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ANYONE expecting another dire draw between these two will be pleasantly mistaken. This was a long overdue apology for what had gone on before between the Saints this season and could even be generously described as something of a thriller.
That might be approaching hyperbole, but it did go entirely against the grain. For one, it had goals, three of them. Connor Ronan’s penalty and Alex Grieve’s first strike for St Mirren just about edged it on a bitterly cold night in Paisley, where St Johnstone were left to rue their failure to build on Callum Hendry’s opener.
A fifth win since the winter break was also another sure sign of progress for Jim Goodwin’s team, who have their sights well and truly on the top-six holy grail. How St Johnstone will wish that was the case for them, with the Saints tonight bottom of the table and in deep, deep trouble.
Wind and rain that would have had the Old Testament blushing swept across Paisley in the moments before kick off, though didn’t seem initially to defuse the Buddies’ newly discovered spark. Games between these two don’t exactly tend to be thrill-a-minute affairs, but St Mirren were doing their best to earn some sort of forgiveness for their part in this season’s previous goalless affairs.
With Jordan Jones, a player of such exciting – yet seldom seen – unpredictability, on one side, Greg Kiltie on the other, and Alex Grieve leading the line, the Saints appeared to finally have the pace Jim Goodwin had been crying out for and they went at St Johnstone from the off.
Both Grieve and Jones were unfortunate to be denied by blocks before Kiltie rose above Jamie McCart and narrowly headed wide. He really should have scored and the visiting ultras, in typically fine voice albeit a little late to the party, let the former Kilmarnock man know it.
Connor Ronan scored with just minutes of the first-half remaining
Buoyed by their fine Hibernian win, Goodwin’s decision to opt for two ‘proper hard men’ in the middle of the park also seemed to be giving St Mirren more structure than the games of old, with Alan Power even finding himself uncharacteristically close to an opponents’ goal, such was the extra protection Alex Gogic was offering.
Despite the home team’s early adventurous streak, it wasn’t long before they found themselves a goal down. In truth, it had been coming. St Johnstone – much changed from their own weekend draw, with five changes in all – had been growing into the game, looking dangerous whenever they strode forward.
Cammy MacPherson, on his first return to Paisley since completing a permanent move, and Ali Crawford both drifted into space as is so often their want and stung Jak Alnwick’s palms from distance. But St Mirren looked to have held off this mini-St Johnstone advance when disaster struck.
The sheer enthusiasm of Glen Middleton as scurried into the box spooked Marcus Fraser and the defender clumsily dragged him down. Up stepped Callum Hendry, who made no mistake on a retake, bagging his first St Johnstone goal since he returned from Kilmarnock.
Already this half had delivered far more action than the previous 180 minutes between these two teams and we weren’t finished yet. By the time the teams took cover from the elements for a merciful 15 minute reprieve, Alnwick and McCart exchanged some heated words, heavy snow replaced the torrential wind and rain, and Steven MacLean was booked for remonstrating a decision.
All in all it was so much more than even the most optimistic in Paisley could have predicted and if that had been the sum of things, Callum Davidson would have been a happy man at the break. But instead he was left to rue his own team’s moment of defensive panic.
With the clock ticking down, Grieve squirmed his way into the box and gleefully accepted a trip. Only the one take was required this time and Connor Ronan sent Zander Clark the wrong way for 1-1.
If Davidson’s mood had been soured by the equaliser, it wasn’t long before it was spoiled altogether. Maybe it was the late penalty but they emerged from the tunnel spooked and were soon deservedly behind. Just three second-half minutes had elapsed when, inexplicably, Kiltie found himself with time and space on the right. His whipped cross was perfect and there was no chance Grieve was missing.
As the New Zealander’s name boomed over the tannoy, Davidson simply put his hands in his pockets and turned towards his dugout in disgust. St Mirren had them on the canvas and those inside the SMiSA were expectantly looking over the blue corner for the towel. The shock was enough to silence even the St Johnstone ultras.
Theo Bair was thrown on for his debut
By the hour mark, Davidson had thrown caution to the wind, sending on James Brown, Jacob Butterfield, and Theo Bair. The Canadian internationalist was the most intriguing of the three but he could have asked for a kinder assignment than turning around a relentless tide on his debut.
He barely got a sniff as St Mirren saw out the game and Dundee’s shock win over Hearts sent St Johnstone bottom. The worrying news? That doesn’t look like a false position.
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