St Mirren 0-1 Kilmarnock: Killie taste victory on the road again thanks to Magic Marley

Killie warm up pre-match in Paisley

It wasn’t long ago when Killie couldn’t buy a win on the road. They now have two under their belt and haven’t conceded in any of their last four away matches.

The match started fairly evenly, with St Mirren edging it in the early exchanges. Derek McInnes’ side weathered the initial storm, thanks to some solid defending and a few excellent saves from Will Dennis.

After 25 minutes, Marley Watkins scored the only goal of the game, with a smart finish beyond former Killie 'keeper Zach Hemming following some slick build-up, with Matty Kennedy threading the ball through to Watkins for his second goal in just four days.

Kilmarnock have kept clean sheets in their last four away fixtures with Dennis as well as the likes of Stuart Findlay, Robbie Deas and Lewis Mayo standing out. So perhaps focussing on creating a more solid base has been key to Kilmarnock’s success, both at home and on their travels. Killie have the fourth-best defence in the league, having only conceded four goals more than Celtic.

The Killie faithful sold out the SMISA Stadium's North Stand and they didn't stop singing all night, and thankfully they could head home to Ayrshire happy knowing that their side had picked up all three points, leaving them in fourth place, four points better off than the Buddies and only two away from Hearts in third.

Next up for Killie is the visit of Tony Docherty's Dundee to Rugby Park on Saturday (December 30) in the club's final fixture of 2023.