John Connolly, in desperate need of points after a disastrous start to the season, made several changes to his starting line-up following last week’s defeat to Queen of the South. It can be no coincidence that, following Connolly’s threat to axe his under-performing players, St Johnstone looked like a team playing for their careers in the first half.
Chris Hay and Michael Moore, who have looked so woefully ineffective in front of goal so far this season, suddenly came to life. It was the duo’s perseverance that led to the opening goal. Hay capitalised on the St Mirren defence’s failure to clear their lines, getting a toe to the ball as he attempted to lob Craig Hinchcliffe. The St Mirren goalkeeper got a finger to it but could only palm it towards the head of Michael Moore to score his first league goal of the season.
Both Moore and Hay had half chances inside the first quarter of an hour but when the home side recovered from the goal they began to edge back into the game. They found it difficult, however, to find a way through St Johnstone’s super cautious defence. Mixu Paatelainen, making his first appearance against his former side since his summer move, won plenty of the aerial battles in the St Johnstone penalty box but had no support from midfield.
If St Johnstone edged the first half it was the home side who came out guns blazing for the second. They were level inside two minutes when Simon Lappin’s pinpoint cross found John O’Neil who turned on his heel and poked it low past Allan McGregor. It was an early reward for a much better performance. At this stage the game looked evenly balanced but Sean Webb tarnished an otherwise steady defensive performance by getting himself sent off for pulling down Richard Gillies.
Their task was made easier when Eddie Malone became the second St Johnstone player to be sent off for a dangerous tackle. A minute later Baird, a 78th minute substitute, exploited the numbers difference after being left virtually unmarked in the penalty area. The game ended on a by now characteristically sour note when Moore, St Johnstone’s scorer, was shown red.
Advertisement
John Connolly was critical of the referee after seeing his side hold out until the 85th minute. “(The referee) put himself under pressure by giving away so many silly yellow cards in the first half,” he said. “We worked very hard to get the result and I feel it has been taken away from us.”
St Mirren: Hinchcliffe, van Zanten, Broadfoot, Millen, McGowne, Reilly, Gillies (Baird 78mins), O’Neill, Paatelainen, McGinty, Lappin (McCay 80mins)
St Johnstone: McGregor, Anderson, Tait, Hanna, Weir, Webb, Stevenson (McManus 85mins), Sheerin, Hay (Rutkiewicz), Moore, Malone
Advertisement
Scorers: St Mirren: O’Neill 47, Baird 85
St Johnstone: Moore 7
Sent Off: Webb 68, Malone 84, Moore 87
Referee: C Richmond
Attendance: 3,079