ST MIRREN'S search for a Championship win this season - and their first in 234 days - has been a thankless task for their long-suffering support.

That quest took them to Dumfries last night to face a Queen of the South side buoyed by the incoming of new manager Gary Naismith from East Fife, with the survival hopes of the Paisley team already on the line.

Cut adrift at the foot of the table by eight points at kick off, the need to close the gap on Dunfermline was not lost on those Buddies who followed their team down the M74 to Palmerston on a cold December night.

It may not have looked like the result they were looking for to take back home with them as the game edged towards half-time at 2-2, but the drive north on the team coach will have resembled a party on the Vengabus after the wait for that elusive league victory was earned at the death here.

What will have pleased Jack Ross is the fact his team now seem to be capable of finding the net. Not only that, but they reacted brilliantly to adversity by twice coming from behind against Queens to pull a deserved victory out of the bag.

Steven Dobbie opened the scoring for the hosts courtesy of good work from Grant Anderson to beat Gary Irvine and lay the ball up for the home hitman on 17 minutes.

It was a lead that last just three minutes as St Mirren roared back. It came from young Kyle Magennis who slammed the ball into the net.

Saints looked like holding on to a level scoreline going into the interval, but they were to be denied by veteran forward Dobbie again. The 34-year-old combined well with Derek Lyle resulting in the former Bolton man calmly sweeping his shot home.

Ross' men started the second half brightly and again showed their mettle to come back fighting. It was the unlikely figure of defender Ben Gordon that restored parity courtesy of a deflected effort.

Lawrence Shankland was soon thrown on but it was Gary MacKenzie that came closest for the Buddies as he forced Lee Robinson into a great save with 22 minutes to play.

St Mirren were not done, though, and it would be Stephan Mallan that would trigger scenes of bedlam in the 93rd minute. With the game all but over, he managed to curl a terrific effort into the corner of the net to seal what the far-travelled Buddies will be hoping is a crucial victory.