Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Wright raging as poor defending helps sink Saints
ST JOHNSTONE boss Tommy Wright was furious at his side’s sloppy defending which allowed Dundee to take a 2-0 lead in their 3-2 win over his side.
“We’ve got to look at ourselves as the first two goals we lost were shocking,” he said.
Alan Mannus spilled a Kevin Holt header to allow A-Jay Leitch-Smith to net No 1 and, for the Dundee player’s second, Tommy commented: “We should have cleared the ball at the edge of the penalty box but didn’t. Both goals were preventable.”
Tommy was also unhappy at two decisions which didn’t go Saints’ way.
At 2-1 down, a Steven Anderson header rocketed into the net but referee Alan Muir disallowed the goal for what he felt was a push.
Moments later, Dundee’s A-Jay Leitch-Smith went down under what looked a fair challenge from Richard Foster and Muir awarded a spot-kick which was converted by Sofien Moussa.
Tommy went on: “The game changed on two decisions, chalking off Steven Anderson’s goal and giving a penalty for Richard Foster’s challenge.
“Ando gets up early and doesn’t use his arms. There was no foul.
“Then the referee gives a soft penalty.
“It’s beyond me as to why the referee gave it as Richard won the ball.
“The game changes with those incidents.
“However, we should’ve played better. The two terrible goals we gave away cost us.”
Denny Johnstone was taken off with a hip injury and Murray Davidson wasn’t involved after a bout of illness.