ST MIRREN returned to the top of the Championship after edging a controversial, hard-fought encounter with a Dunfermline side who have now gone seven league games without a win.

Referee Craig Charleston and his assistant Gordon Crawford were at the centre of the two major decisions in the game, and, despite the protests and complaints, they probably got both decisions correct.

St Mirren players howled for a red card for Dunfermline goalkeeper Sean Murdoch after he cleaned out Gavin Reilly outside his box in the ninth minute. Charleston and Crawford eventually came to the conclusion it was a yellow card because Reilly was heading away from goal with an increasingly acute goal target to aim for.

Cammy Smith provided the game's only moment of real quality with a fine goal seven minutes from the interval following excellent build-up play involving Ian McShane and Reilly that saw him finish the move off with a composed finish.

Dunfermline threw the kitchen sink at their hosts and were delighted when the referee awarded them a 66th minute penalty after a challenge from Adam Eckersley on Ryan Williamson. But Charleston again ran to his assistant after initially giving the award. They both decided it was no penalty, much to the outrage of the visiting players and fans and a goal kick was awarded, with Williamson booked for simulation.

Substitute Fraser Aird should have equalised for the East End Park side at the end, but they left with nothing and manager Allan Johnston was far from happy at the officials' decisions.

"The linesman gave the penalty then changed his mind," he said. "Whether he had done so because of the players or crowd getting on his back, I don’t know. There were a lot of decisions for both teams that were poor.

"It looks like it was a clumsy challenge. Whether it’s a penalty, I don’t know, but Ryan is not a player who dives. The referee got a couple of big decision wrong but we know we have to take our chances.

"It’s hard to say if the referee got the decision involving Sean Murdoch wrong or not. But we had no more challenges than St Mirren, but ended up with five bookings and they had none. I don’t understand where that has come from. It’s a bit strange."

St Mirren manager Jack Ross reckoned Charleston had got both calls right...eventually and was thrilled his side had regained their lead at the summit.

He said: "It's nice to be back top again. There's a belief growing within the group that we can do this and win this league. We have been there for a long time now in terms of challenging and our results over this calendar year has been probably as good as anyone.

"With the two big decisions, the first one at the time I thought should have been a red card, but I have watched it back and it's not as clear cut as I thought at the time and I have said that to the ref.

"The second one I think was the correct decision. it's just the circumstances of it that creates the controversy because of the fact the ref changes his mind which is unusual."