Lee Erwin and John Sutton scored braces either side of half time as Motherwell claimed a comfortable 5-0 victory at home to St Mirren in the Scottish Premiership this evening.

The hosts went in front after just seven minutes had been played when Lionel Ainsworth found space to pick out Erwin inside the box, and he made no mistake with a neat finish into the bottom right corner.

Motherwell were 2-0 ahead around 20 minutes later as Erwin broke free to tuck into the bottom left corner, with the enterprising Ainsworth the architect again.

The home side had virtually wrapped up all three points inside the first half, with Scott McDonald netting a third right on the stroke of half time having made good use of a ball from Marvin Johnson.

With St Mirren finding chances hard to come by, Steven Thompson was wasteful on the hour mark when he prodded wide of George Long's goal.

The visitors misery was compounded with just under 15 minutes to play as Sutton managed to grab a fourth for Motherwell, after he moved unmarked to convert a Johnson cross from six yards out.

The hosts made it 5-0 in the 79th minute when Sutton showed some clinical finishing from close range to bring an end to St Mirren's torrid evening.