St Mirren have succumbed to a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Ross County in this evening's Scottish Premiership clash at St Mirren Park, courtesy of Liam Boyce's emphatic hat-trick.

The visitors found the back of the net in the 27th minute when Michael Gardyne broke clear of the opposition defence before skipping past the keeper and rolling the ball into the net, but the effort was disallowed for offside.

It mattered little because County continued to apply pressure and duly took the lead on the half-hour mark, Liam Boyce hammering home after a scramble in the Saints box.

The Premiership's bottom side suffered another setback not long after the restart when Viktor Genev was sent off for bringing down Boyce, who was the last man.

County doubled their lead in the 75th minute as the 24-year-old Northern Ireland striker slotted the ball through the legs of Jim Goodwin before firing past Mark Ridgers.

An awful evening for St Mirren was compounded when Boyce added a third in the final minute of normal time to secure his hat-trick and leave the hosts in tatters.

The result leaves Gary Teale's charges 16 points from safety at the bottom of the Scottish Premiership.