A sensational Ryan Hardie hat-trick his first in senior football fired Raith Rovers to a crucial victory in his first start for the Kirkcaldy club.
The on-loan Rangers striker hit three superb finishes in a 4-3 victory over St Mirren that moved Rovers four points clear in the race for fourth place.
“First and foremost I’m delighted with the win and to get three points that keeps us in fourth place,” the 18-year-old said.
“I thought, the way we set out to play, that there was going to be chances for our front line. As they came I just took them, so that’s good.”
Hardie now has four goals in two games for Rovers after coming off the bench to score the winner against Morton last week, and he hopes that his goal-scoring exploits at Stark’s Park will catch the eye of Rangers manager Mark Warburton.
Hardie took just three minutes to fire Rovers into the lead, racing on to Ross Callachan’s through ball to steer a composed effort underneath Jamie Langfield.
The teenager turned provider on 23 minutes as he played in Mark Stewart, who grabbed his third goal in four games, and his ninth of the season.
Saints forced their way back into the match five minutes before half-time as Keith Watson powered home a header from Stephen Mallin’s corner.
However, Hardie took centre-stage again early in the second half with a stunning double within the space of two minutes.
The striker raced on to Harry Panayiotou’s through ball to blast a half-volley past Jamie Langfield from the edge of the box on 53 minutes.
In Raith’s next attack, Hardie gathered the ball in the heart of the Buddies box and side-stepped two challenges before picking his spot in the roof of the net.
Saints fought back again, and a long-range effort from David Clarkson on 61 minutes brought the visitors back to within two goals.
Watson then struck his second on 76 minutes, rolling the ball into the far corner after Raith failed to clear their lines from another Mallin corner.
It set up a nervy finish for the home side, but they held on for a third consecutive home win ahead of tomorrow’s visit of nearest challengers Queen of the South.
“It’s a great victory for us but we’re disappointed with how we did it,” Raith manager Ray McKinnon admitted afterwards.
“At 2-0 we should have gone on and dominated the game, but we stopped doing what was productive for us.
“We had a chat at half-time, starting doing it again, went 4-1 up, then stopped again. But at this time of the season, we’ll take the three points.”