stranraer 1 Agnew (11)
st mirren 4 Reilly (27), Stewart (31), Morgan (40), Buchanan (55)
DEBUTANTS Gavin Reilly, Ross Stewart and Gregor Buchanan helped St Mirren come from behind and seal all three points.
St Mirrenran out comfortable winners in the end but were hit with an early blow.
Both sides named a number of new faces in their starting line-ups but it was a familiar face who opened the scoring for the home side.
Ryan Thomson capitalised on some slack play and slotted the ball through for ex- St Mirren man Scott Agnew to fire home.
The setback failed to dent the visitors’ confidence, though, and they soon found a leveller.
Lewis Morgan weaved his way across the box and, when his shot came back off the post, Reilly fired home from close range.
The game was quickly turned on its head as the Buddies got their noses in front four minutes later.
Ian McShane’s deep freekick was headed across the box by Buchanan and Stewart rattled home.
And St Mirren extended their lead before the break when Morgan’s shot from the edge of the box was deflected beyond Belford.
The visitors quickly added to their tally after the restart and once again it was that man McShane with the assist.
His inswinging corner was perfect for Buchanan and the central defender buried the header from close range.
Stranraer almost pulled one back through Jamie Hamill but his fierce drive was beaten away by the experienced Samson and Scott Robertson could not steer home the rebound.
St Mirren were comfortable now and could have added to their tally on twice late on.
The best chance fell to Stewart, who seized on a woefully- short backpass from Agnew.
He only had Belford to beat but the keeper stood tall to block with his chest.