Samson the sinner

MANY more weeks like this and Craig Samson will be sleeping with the lights on. On the back of a midweek showing at Celtic Park in which he was bent double from stooping to collect the ball five times from his own net, the Motherwell goalkeeper was culpable at Fir Park yesterday afternoon as a lethargic home side slipped to a loss compounded by the fact they had initially led their visitors.

While Samson was in the odd position midweek that he left the east end of Glasgow with plaudits despite the scoreline – his manager Mark McGhee felt that Celtic could have reached double figures without him – the 32-year-old left the dressing room with his head in his hands yesterday after an embarrassing role in St Johnstone’s winner in Lanarkshire.

With a relatively open second period balanced at a goal apiece, Chris Kane tried his luck with an effort that, although it moved in the air a little, seemed to be directly at Samson.

Inexplicably, though, the goalkeeper weakly parried the effort straight into the path of Steven MacLean who gleefully compounded the error by calmly sinking the ball into the net.

“You always say to the young forwards to keep gambling,” said the St Johnstone striker. “I was telling Chris towards the end of the game that I hadn’t had many flick-ons, but that he should keep making the same runs as one might get him a goal.

“With my goal, it was just instinct. It’s just in you to follow it in, but you’d take 10 of them a season.”

The concession of the equalising oal was equally tough on the eyes, Danny Swanson cancelling out Chris Cadden’s opener when he nicked the ball through Samson’s legs.

McGhee was reluctant to apportion individual blame after what was a thoroughly limp allround display from his side.

“He [Samson] was holding his hand up,” said McGhee. “The point I made was that we did not play well as a group.

“Scotty [Scott McDonald] missed a chance, Craig has been brilliant recently and it would have been double figures the other night at Parkhead [but for him]. So you have to forgive him, but we didn’t lose a game because one popped away from him, we lost a game because as a group we were way off the pace.”

There was truth in what McGhee said, with the Fir Park side looking heavy of leg as well as of mind for most of the game.

Their only dominant spell came immediately after Cadden had opened the scoring, three minutes after the interval.

Motherwell could have doubled their advantage when McDonald drew a decent save from Alan Mannus while Marvin Johnson dragged an effort wide of the target.

“We could have went 2-0 up and it would have been ridiculous from St Johnstone’s point of view,” admitted McGhee. “I think that summed up our day – the fact we couldn’t go two up when we had the chance.”

Substitute Dom Thomas came close to sparing Samson’s blushes with a blistering half-volley as the game came to a close, while McDonald had an effort chalked off when he used his hand to turn in a Johnson cross.

In fairness, though, St Johnstone were worthy of the three points with manager Tommy Wright once more alluding to the spirit of togetherness within the Perth dressing room.

“There are no prima donnas,” he said. “That helps when the chips are down. They get on well off the pitch and on it.

“They’re not afraid to dig each other out when they have to.”

Craig was holding his hand up but I made the point that we did not play well as a group