JOHN Sutton earned the praise of manager Jack Ross as he came off the bench to clinch a significant victory that has taken Saints three points clear at the top.

As Dundee United and Dunfermline dropped points, the 33-year-old striker showed great desire to clinch a vital win with his first goal of the season after Gavin Reilly had scored in the first half.

“John has done terrifically well at the club in different spells and he still has a part to play,” Ross said.

“He went on with hunger and he might have scored before he did. It was a big goal because it allowed us to see the game out

“It’s been a really good first quarter for us. To keep churning out results as they have done and win seven out of the first nine games is terrific.

I felt this was one of the biggest games of the season because of the other fixtures around us. We felt teams around us might drop points so it could give us a small cushion and that’s the way things turned out.”

Saint Mirren could have been comfortable early but Andy Dowie cleared Ross Stewart’s volley off the line after two minutes, then Stephen McGinn’s shot was pushed wide by Scott Gallacher two minutes later.

Gallacher denied Cammy Smith on 14 minutes then made a brilliant save on Reilly’s strike after 34 minutes. But he was helpless two minutes later when Reilly connected perfectly with Adam Eckersley’s cross to head home from close range.

Christian Nade and Tom Walsh both had chances for Dumbarton either side of half time, but substitute Sutton settled it with 19 minutes remaining when he rose to head home Ian McShane’s corner.

Disappointed Dumbabrton manager Stevie Aitken said: “I think for long spells there was nothing between the sides.

“We knew if they got a second goal it would kill the game off and I was disappointed with the header.

“We had about six good chances and I felt we deserved to take something out of the game.”