WATT A SORE ONE FOR BUDDIES IN PAISLEY
TONY WATT had been in the midst of such a drought, the Perth City Council were just about issuing him with his own hosepipe ban.
The 24-year-old gave himself and St Johnstone a timely tonic yesterday though as he pounced in the 89th minute to score his first goal since August and pinch all three points in a largely dire, dour and dogged tussle in Paisley.
It had taken a good hour or so for the game to be injected with a dose of much-needed oomph. There wasn’t much gusto and even less guile for good chunks of the proceedings but St Johnstone kept plugging away and were rewarded in the game’s dying embers with Watt’s closerange header.
Having been floored by the concession of a last-gasp goal against Rangers at the weekend, St Johnstone conjured a late show of their own to maintain their terrific run on the road. Tommy Wright’s team have now won five on the spin away from home. “It was a controlled performance rather than a brilliant performance, but I thought we deserved to win,” said Wright.
“It’s ironic that we’ve scored a late winner today after losing one late to Rangers in our previous game. But that’s how football is. It was good to see Tony scoring again as he’s had a long wait.
“I keep telling him to get in the box more as he’s a good finisher. At times he wants to play too much outside of the box but hopefully the penny will drop and he’ll see that I’m talking a bit of sense.”
St Mirren had been involved in a grisly, attritional battle with Motherwell last Saturday and the first half here was an equally gruesome spectacle which had all the redeeming features of trench warfare.
Those who sacrificed a Boxing Day of lolling on the couch, pawing at the remote control and nonchalantly shovelling the remnants of the selection boxes down their thrapples must have been cursing the decision to venture forth.
The only noteworthy incident of a thoroughly dismal first half arrived on 15 minutes when Murray Davidson tangled with Stephen McGinn in the box amid half-hearted penalty claims.
No spot kick was given but Davidson was forced to hirple off the pitch and was replaced by Ross Callachan. “It was the knee he had injured previously so hopefully he is ok,” added a concerned Wright.
Mercifully, things did improve a tad after the break but the standard had been set so low, it merely required someone to find a man with a pass to attract great torrents of praise and plaudits.
Lee Hodson upped the ante for the hosts just a couple of minutes after the resumption with a surging run but his pass into Simeon Jackson was just too heavy and Joe Shaughnessy anticipated the danger and hoofed the ball clear.
At the other end, St Mirren handed their guests a good opportunity on a platter but after Alfie Jones had skittered a clearance straight to Callachan, the St Johnstone man could only plonk his shot wide. Callachan redeemed himself a few minutes later when he lunged to block Paul McGinn’s shot at the back post before St Johnstone began to make menacing inroads again with Ricky Foster and Scott Tanser forcing Dean Lyness into sprightly saves.
The visiting Saints went marching in again and should have taken the lead with six minutes left but, after a perfect knock down from Jason Kerr, Chris Kane squirted a timorous effort wide with the goal at his mercy. Watt showed him how to do it moments later, however, with a clinical header.
“It’s fair to say we lack that little bit of pace in the team so it is hard to get in behind teams,” said St Mirren manager Oran Kearney (below) as he pinpointed the areas he needs to bolster. We don’t really have a physical presence in the forward areas either so trying to find the answer or combination has been
tough.”