It was a case of so close and yet so far for St Mirren as a Gary Holt goal earned Kilmarnock the points in their opening Scottish Premier League game of the season.

The Buddies, back in the top flight after an eight-year absence and hotly tipped to go straight back down to the First Division, started as though they had a point to prove.

And for a long time the strategy seemed to work as Saints dominated the chances early in the game.

But Holt's second-half goal means St Mirren will now have to work twice as hard to prove they are worthy of their place in the SPL.

They started brightly when Jens Paeslack tested Gordon Marshall after only two minutes when he met Iain Nicholson's through-ball, but the goalkeeper managed to block the big German's shot.

Six minutes later Paeslack threatened again when he connected well with a Hugh Murray free-kick but he nodded wide.

But it was Mark Yardley, last year's top scorer for the Saints, who was left kicking himself when his shot in the ninth minute scraped over the crossbar.

Despite being the newcomers, the Paisley side were proving to be the more productive team in the opening stages.

The Killie defence was again troubled on 23 minutes when Yardley sent a pass through to Ricky Gillies in front of an open goal but he failed to connect properly and Marshall scrambled the ball to safety.

A few minutes later it was Steve McGarry's turn to have a go at the Kilmarnock goal only to pull the effort wide.

Kilmarnock were beginning to edge into the game and Holt had an opportunity to put the visitors ahead.

He pounced on a Christophe Cocard cross and unleashed a shot inside the area, but the danger was cleared by a vigilant Ian Ross.

St Mirren's frustrations started to show when Yardley was shown the yellow card for hauling down Jerome Vareille on the near-side touchline.

Saints boss Tom Hendrie has to watch his team's first seven games from the stand after receiving a touchline ban and he will have felt aggrieved that his players went into the interval on level terms.

Five minutes after the break Yardley missed out on a clear chance when McGarry found him on the 18-yard box but the big striker smashed the ball over the bar.

Murray sent a 25-yard strike wide for Saints on 59 minutes before the action returned to the other end of the park.

Holt went on a surging run which took him into the box but Murray was on hand to clear before he could pull the trigger.

Killie could have taken the lead on 65 minutes when Cocard's pass picked out Vareille only for the shot to be sent skywards.

Holt went even closer a minute later with a close-range shot which flew just inches over the crossbar, although keeper Ludovic Roy looked to have got the ball covered.

But Roy was well beaten on 75 minutes when Andy McLaren found Holt unmarked in the area and he nodded home from two yards.