Craig Dargo broke his goal-scoring duck for St Mirren

Summer signing Craig Dargo broke his goalscoring duck for St Mirren to consign opponents Gretna to relegation.

The former Inverness man struck in the 27th minute with a neat finish.

Gretna knew they would be relegated if they failed to win at Love Street and almost took a surprise early lead via Daniel Hall's looped header.

But Saints doubled their lead and sealed sorry Gretna's fate after 49 minutes when Billy Mehmet turned home Andy Dorman's drilled corner.

Interview: St Mirren manager Gus MacPherson

Interview: Gretna coach Andy Smith

A dogged and determined Gretna showed no signs of rolling over in a drab opening period.

St Mirren were the first to threaten when Jim Hamilton's half-chance was blasted just wide in the ninth minute.

Gretna centre-back Hall nearly shocked the hosts early on.

His looping header, following a flapped clearance by keeper Chris Smith, soared beyond the St Mirren defence and fell just off target.

In windy conditions that suited neither side it was Gretna who settled more comfortably.

In the 27th minute a 30-yard free kick from Dorman drew the first save from Gretna goalkeeper Greg Fleming who parried the thunderous effort away.

Moments later Dargo scored his first goal for St Mirren when he coolly scored from seven yards.

In the 32nd minute Dargo nearly doubled his tally and his team's lead with a cheeky lob which beat Fleming but dipped too late and then fell behind for a goal kick.

Seconds later Dargo hit a post with a clever right-footed strike leaving Fleming helpless but the woodwork denied him.

St Mirren finished the half stronger, seemingly happy for their midfield to sit deep and hit Gretna on the break with some regularity.

The Buddies started the second-half where they left off and Mehmet doubled thier lead after a period of pressure in the gretna box.

The home side forced a series of corner kicks before Mehmet latched onto Dorman's in-swinging corner and sent the ball low past Fleming.

In the 70th minute St Mirren brought on Stewart Kean for Hamilton who moments earlier had watched his header crash off the crossbar.

With 12 minutes left the lively Kissock went on a mazy run, ghosting past two St Mirren players and homing in on goal.

But he eventually ran out of steam and the ball rolled out of play.

As the clock ticked down Kean had a golden chance to make it 3-0 as he found himself with time and space in the box.

But his shot was well blocked by Fleming.

St Mirren: Smith, Reid, Potter, Haining (McAusland 79), Maxwell (Docherty 61), Dargo, Murray, Dorman, Brady, Hamilton (Kean 70), Mehmet. Subs Not Used: Howard, Brittain, Corcoran, McGinn.

Goals: Dargo 27, Mehmet 49.

Gretna: Fleming, Naughton, Skelton, Hall (Kissock 56), Meynell, McGill, Baldacchino (Taylor 68), Osman, Murray, Wilkinson (Barr 46), Deverdics. Subs Not Used: Krysiak, Hogg, Griffiths, Schultz-Eklund.

Booked: Skelton.

Att: 3,577

Ref: D Somers (Scotland).