The new year started with derby delight for St Mirren as they took all three points at Cappielow to move out of the relegation play-off spot and up to seventh in the Championship table.

Lawrence Shankland's first-half header was enough to put Renfrewshire rivals Morton to the sword and give Alex Rae his second win in three games in the Buddies' hotseat.

The match had a tentative opening with little in the way of action. Paul McMullan brought the game to life with a bursting run through the home ranks before passing to Cameron Howieson who saw his shot blocked by the sliding frame of Morton skipper, Lee Kilday.

Morton countered and Jamie Langfield had to deal with a dipping Ross Forbes strike from 20-yards. The keeper got up well to block Denny Johnstone’s follow-up, but the flag of linesman Dougie Potter was already up.

The hosts were seeing more of the ball with Lawrence Shankland an increasingly lonely figure at the focal point of Saints 4-2-3-1 formation as McMullan and Howieson were forced to track runners.

On an occasion where Saints were stretched, Keith Watson got them out of jail with a brilliant challenge on McManus inside the six yard box.

As half-time approached the sides looked destined to go in level, however a defensive lapse from Ton would prove crucial.

Scott Agnew’s chipped free kick was back-headed by Denny Johnstone forcing Derek Gaston in the home goal to push the ball off the bar to the delight of Shankland and the Saints support behind the goal as the on-loan Aberdeen striker nodded home.

Half-Time: Greenock Morton 0-1 St Mirren

Saints could have doubled their advantage inside five-minutes of the restart. Howieson was released in on goal, but the Kiwi was thwarted by Gaston who came out quickly to dive at his feet.

Morton's need was beginning to become desperate and they responded. Andy Webster was forced to clear off the line and Johnstone fired an effort against the woodwork.

However Saint' backline stood tall and seen the game out, the Buddies may have put the gloss on the win when Jack Baird’s late header bounced back off the foot of the far post with Gaston beaten.

Greenock Morton: Gaston, Pepper, Kilday, Gasparotto, Russell, McKee, Miller (Samuel, 59), O’Ware, Forbes, Johnstone, McManus.

Subs Not Used: Lamie, Quitongo, Tennent, Strapp, McGowan (GK).

St Mirren: Langfield, Watson, Webster, Baird, Kelly, McMullan (Gallagher, 70), Agnew, Mallan, Carswell, Howieson, Shankland.

Subs Not Used: Thompson, Stewart, Morgan, McLear, Cuddihy, Wilks (GK).

Referee: Andrew Dallas.

Attendance: 4,736.

Saints boss Alex Rae was delighted with the victory and revealed after the match he expects to busy in the Jnaury transfer window.

He told the club's website: “Obviously delighted with the win, but what was so pleasing was we were able to make ourselves competitive as we changed our shape to make us hard to beat and more compact and everybody who was here could see how committed we were.

“We have let Craig Reid go back to Motherwell and Luke Conlan is back at Burnley so we will be looking to bring a few in. We have spoken to and approached a few clubs about a few different players, but we will need to sit down and prioritise the areas we need to strengthen.”

Meanwhile the win was the first in the dugout for new St Mirren assistant manager David Farrell who joined Alex Rae's backroom team prior to the Morton match.

Farrell was Rae's assistant at Dundee between 2006 and 2008 and has signed a deal at Saints until the end of the 2016/17 season.

A playing career with Hibernian, Partick Thistle, Airdrieonians, Clydebank, Stranraer and Albion Rovers led Farrell to the move into the management team with Alex Rae in 2006.