St Mirren stayed second bottom of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League after a comprehensive 3-1 home defeat to Motherwell.

Teenager Jamie Murphy opened the scoring for the visitors with a 13th-minute header and David Clarkson then contributed a goal in each half for Motherwell.

With 31 minutes gone Stephen Hughes cut in from the right and drilled a shot which struck the base of the opposite post, and fellow Scotland B international Clarkson won the short race to the ball and tapped home the rebound from no more than a yard.

Then on the hour mark, fit-again Paul Quinn floated in a cross from the right and although it went over the head of the jumping Cillian Sheridan, Clarkson was on hand to head home his second goal of the game from inside the six-yard box.

Substitute Stephen O'Donnell, making his comeback from injury, sparked a late rally when he scored with a fine volley, but it proved a mere consolation as the Paisley side remain mired in the relegation fight.