Two stunning goals in the dying moments of this poor game brought Aberdeen the points and left St Mirren still languishing in the lower reaches of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.

Two stunning goals in the dying moments of this poor game brought Aberdeen the points and left St Mirren still languishing in the lower reaches of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.

The game, before Pittodrie's lowest turnout of the season, was brought to life when Andrew Considine cracked home a fierce right-foot shot 12 minutes from time.

Then, with the visitors pushing forward in search of a last-gasp equaliser, Sone Aluko, who was out of the picture for long spells, ran on to a perfectly-placed Lee Miller pass to beat Mark Howard and secure the victory.

St Mirren had tried hard atThe home side started with an unusual - for them - formation as they allowed Aluko a free role behind the strikers, Lee Miller and Darren Mackie.

However, while the former Birmingham City winger's trickery impressed early on, the visiting defence appeared not to be overawed by it.

The Paisley side, with Andy Dorman and Scott Cuthbert replacing Garry Brady and Steven Robb from the line-up beaten by Hearts last weekend, lived dangerously on several occasions, although it took a silly mistake by goalkeeper Howard to put them in real trouble five minutes before the interval.

Howard must have forgotten the assistant referee was watching as he collected a long ball from the Dons defence just a smidgen outside the penalty area, an offence which gave his opponents a free-kick and earned him a yellow card.

Still, his stunning, diving save from Miller's dead-ball effort made up for his folly and, as if to underline his determination to make amends, he followed up a few minutes later with a courageous dive at the feet of Mackie as the frontman raced on to the ball 12 yards out.

The tempo of the game, set by Aberdeen in the early stages, was more subdued in the second period, the visitors happy to sit back and hope any counter-attack might pay off.

The first chance of the second half fell to Derek Young after a neat pass from Miller but the midfielder's effort was well off target.

Billy Mehmet then came close to creating a scoring chance for himself, but was dispossessed by Zander Diamond at a crucial moment in the penalty area.

Then, as St Mirren gained greater confidence, Hugh Murray, redeployed wide on the right, tested Jamie Langfield, the Aberden goalkeeper, with a thrilling strike from 18 yards. The manoeuvre did not please the home fans.

St Mirren enjoyed a good spell at this stage and had the Aberdeen defenders, whose tendency to make costly errors have blighted the start to the season, worried on a few occasions.

Midfielder Mark Kerr was booked for a tackle on Hamilton on the edge of the box as he came back to help out, but Franco Miranda's powerful free-kick soared over the bar.

Considine was then booked for a late challenge on Hamilton, who reciprocated a few minutes later with a trip on Considine which also resulted in a yellow card.

However, the two home players made a much more positive contribution in the 80th minute, Kerr laying the ball into Considine's path for the defender to smash it home from 15 yards.

Then, with St Mirren chasing a draw and leaving themselves wide open in defence, Aluko's pounced on Miller's through ball in they dying stqages and fired his shot into the far corner of Howard's net to rubber-stamp Aberdeen's win.

However, Jimmy Calderwood, the Aberdeen manager, was not convinced his side deserved their second home win of the season. "It was a bit flattering, to be honest," he admitted. "I think Gus McPherson St Mirren manager will be disappointed as his team did very well, which I had expected. We have played a lot better and lost games."

MacPherson agreed his side should have taken something from the match. "We have held our own in the last two or three games now against good teams where we certainly haven't deserved to lose. We can say the same again tonight but we have and we are extremely disappointed."