St Mirren earned a rousing win in Paisley as their first goals in four games ensured St Johnstone remain the only side without a Scottish Premiership win.

Jonathan Obika's stunning overhead kick put them ahead before the break after a slow start. And Danny Mullen then finished a fine team move to double the lead, after he had struck the inside of a post.

The result moves Jim Goodwin's dominant side up two places to ninth, but St Johnstone remain rooted to the bottom.

Their only win this season in all competitions came against League two side Brechin City in the League Cup group stage in July.

Long-awaited goal releases St Mirren pressure

St Mirren manager Goodwin talked before the game of how he tweaked his formation from a 4-2-3-1 to a 4-3-3 to try and push more bodies forward to solve their goalscoring conundrum.

The Paisley side had scored just three in eight games in the league, and Obika's stunning intervention - their first goal at home in 307 minutes of football - was just what they needed because the change in formation initially had little impact.

Instead the simple and direct route proved too much for St Johnstone to handle. A free-kick from deep caused the required panic and defender Sean McLoughlin used his presence to flick the ball on, and Obika did the rest. Simple, but effective and suddenly the confidence in the home ranks grew, and St Johnstone looked diminished.

The decision to push Mullen and Tony Andreu further forward to support Obika began to pay off handsomely, with the former Tottenham striker heading forward for Mullen to latch on to, only for his shot to clatter back off the woodwork.

But he would not be denied for much longer. A beautifully incisive pass sent Paul McGinn scampering down the right and his inch-perfect cut back found Mullen, who smashed the ball high into the net.

It was an expertly crafted goal from front to back, and illustrated just what a boost it was for St Mirren to finally find the net, as they showed far more flair in attack thereafter which should give them a platform to build on.

As for St Johnstone, Tommy Wright said pre-match that he feels no pressure after a poor start, joking that as long as he wakes each morning then he will be just fine. But if his team continue in this vein then sleepless nights might become more of a problem, particularly their failure to capitalise on good spells of play.

There is talent in this team, and they were the better side before the opener, as Matty Kennedy, Murray Davidson and Anthony Ralston all passed up opportunities before St Mirren mustered anything of note.

However, the manner in which they drifted out of the contest thereafter will be of major concern to Wright. Clearly confidence is low, and the Northern Irishman - the longest serving manager in the league - must find a way of restoring it or a long battle against the drop will become inevitable.

Man of the match - Stephen McGinn

BBC Scotland's Chick Young at the Simple Digital Arena

Obika's goal was a huge relief for St Mirren. The Englishman's first league goal instantly made him the club's joint top scorer, before Mullen added his second after the break.

Both those forwards were excellent but the difference for me was the returned presence of Stephen McGinn. The Paisley captain, who toiled to regain his place after injury, settled back into the middle of the park like it was his favourite armchair.

He was a steadying, calming influence as the team's nerves evaporated after that first goal. You may not see a better team goal all season than St Mirren's second, but McGinn, who seldom prowls the opposition box, remains the orchestrator in chief.

'The boys fight tooth and nail' - reaction

St Mirren manager Jim Goodwin: "That's another clean sheet at home and I think everybody knows when they come here they're in for a hell of a game because the boys fight tooth and nail for everything.

"We're not getting carried away, it's a win which has been a long time coming. But we deserved that, I don't think anyone can argue with that."

St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright: "The second half we didn't show up. They came at us and I thought too many people hid in the second half.

"At the minute, they're letting themselves down and they know that."