Paisley, Scotland (SportsNetwork.com) - A pair of second-half penalty kicks from Steven Thompson helped St Mirren to a 4-1 home victory over Kilmarnock on Saturday that revives the Saints survival hopes.
The result moves last-place St Mirren to within seven points of Motherwell with four games to play, while Killie has lost its last five fixtures.
Sean Kelly got the hosts off the mark inside of eight minutes thanks to an errant pass from Kilmarnock's Nathan Eccleston, which handed Kelly an easy finish.
Kieran Sadlier made it 2-0 to St Mirren by halftime when he scored on the rebound, but Killie pulled a goal back in the 53rd through Josh Magennis to cut the deficit in half.
It took only four minutes for the Saints to restore their two-goal lead when Thompson converted from the penalty spot after Killie's Alexei Eremenko handled the ball inside his own penalty area.
Thompson was on target again from the penalty spot eight minutes later to seal the win after Manuel Pascali brought down James Dayton inside the box.
Second-place Aberdeen rallied from a 1-0 deficit in the final 20 minutes to claim a 2-1 victory at Inverness thanks to an own goal from David Raven and the winning tally five minutes later from Niall McGinn, moving the Dons to within five points of leaders Celtic.
St Johnstone scored twice in the second half to claim a 2-0 win at Dundee FC, while Stephen O'Donnel's goal in the 54th minute lifted Partick Thistle to a 2-1 triumph at Ross County.
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