ST MIRREN slumped to a 3-1 defeat against Raith Rovers after a lacklustre showing at Stark's Park.

Declan McManus' double either side of a tap-in from Ross Callachan put the Fifers three up and ensured the Buddies headed home still in search of their first three points of the new campaign.

Ryan Hardie's well-executed strike was not enough to mount a comeback on what was a bleak day for the Saints.

The away side started strongly and registered their first effort on goal inside the first minute when Jason Naismith headed Stephen Mallan's out-swinging corner straight at Aaron Lennox.

Lawrence Shankland went close to breaking the deadlock in the 12th minute when he was picked out by Lewis Morgan.

The winger showed good trickery out on the left to get to the byline and pick out the Aberdeen loanee but Lennox was equal to his low drive.

But all that good work soon went to waste.

Raith could have taken the lead sixty seconds before they did, however, Lewis Vaughan somehow managed to fire McManus' cross wide from just yards out after 15 minutes.

Gary Locke's men were not ruing the miss for long as McManus broke free of the Buddies' backline and showed great composure to lob the onrushing Jamie Langfield.

McManus continued to ask questions of the Saints defence and almost doubled the hosts' advantage on the half-hour mark.

An incisive through ball from Vaughan teed up the man on loan from Fleetwood Town but he skewed his shot well wide.

The 477 travelling Buddies had been given very little to get excited about in the first half until Shankland saw his header cleared off the line by Ross Matthews five minutes before the interval.

McManus was a constant thorn in the sides of centre-back pairing Andy Webster and Jack Baird.

St Mirren were fortunate not to find themselves two goals down just before the break as the former Aberdeen youth player passed up another glaring opportunity in front of goal.

The Buddies emerged for the second half intent on finding an equaliser but it was Raith who grabbed the game's second goal.

Bobby Barr's miscued shot in the 49th minute fell kindly for Callachan who couldn't miss from inside the six-yard area.

Two then became three just minutes later when McManus raced on to a seemingly harmless ball over the top.

Hesitancy from Webster allowed the 22-year-old to nick in and prod the ball past the stranded Langfield before rolling home into an empty net.

St Mirren rallied and pulled a goal back through Ryan Hardie on 64 minutes.

Despite having a quiet opening hour, he demonstrated sharp instincts to tuck away a loose ball that seemed to bobble around the Raith penalty area for all eternity.

Substitute Tom Walsh almost grabbed a second but he smashed his half-volley just wide of the top corner.

Fellow sub John Sutton should have reduced the deficit with 16 minutes remaining.

The Englishman instead nodded his header past the post when it looked easier to score.

Saints tried to find a way back into the match in the final stages with a series of long throw-ins and corners which saw both Baird and Hardie go close.

But the reality was simple: they gave themselves far too much to do with not enough time to do it.

Raith Rovers: Lennox, Thomson, McHattie, Callachan, M'Voto, Benedictus, Vaughan (Skacel), Barr, Matthews, McManus (Stewart), Thompson (Roberts)

Subs not used: Cuthbert, Johnston, Osei, Coustrain

St Mirren: Langfield, Naismith (Sutton), Baird, Webster, Irvine, Hutton, Mallan (Clarkson), Gallagher (Walsh), Morgan, Hardie, Shankland

Subs not used: Gallacher, Gordon, O'Keefe, McDonald

Referee: Kevin Graham

Attendance: 2,140