Saints give a bit of hope to Ross
ST MIRREN manager Jack Ross praised his battling basement Buddies for bouncing back to rescue a point at the home of the Championship’s in-form side.
Seven days earlier, the beleaguered boss had become embroiled in an ugly row with his own fans after a dismal 3-0 defeat to Queen of the South in Paisley.
After falling behind to a Kallum Higginbotham penalty at East End Park though, Ross was delighted by the character his side showed as Gary MacKenzie’s header secured a 1-1 draw against a Dunfermline side that has now not lost in nine matches.
The Saints may have ended the day the same way it began, seven points adrift of Ayr United at the foot of the table. But a smiling Ross saw enough in this spirited showing to suggest that his team are not down yet. ‘There’s is still a lot of life in us,’ said Ross. ‘I was pleased with my players today because after how they performed last week — and how open I was with my criticism of them — the response was good.
‘Last week was unacceptable but if we can pick up points at a place like this then win our home games, then we will start to climb the table.
‘This is a good weekend for us, because East End Park is a difficult place to come with the form that Dunfermline are currently in.
‘To come here away from home to the form team in the division, and go a goal behind and get a draw, then there are a lot more positives than negatives.
‘Yes, we carried a bit of fortune at times, but that’s not always been the case since I came to this club.
‘If you look at other results, which we have to do now, we haven’t lost any ground and we have gained a point (on Dumbarton).’
There was an early escape for Saints when Dunfermline wide man Paul McMullan saw his shot beat Jamie Langfield, but captain Andy Webster cleared the ball off the line.
Then there looked to be a big let-off for MacKenzie when he appeared to foul Michael Moffat in the box, but referee Willie Collum waved away the Dunfermline appeals.
However, Collum had no option when MacKenzie dumped Moffat in the penalty area moments later and awarded the hosts a spot-kick.
Kallum Higginbotham famously missed two penalties in the denying seconds in a 1-1 home draw against Ayr United last month, costing his side two precious points.
But the Englishman vowed he would stand up to be counted when his next one arrived. He was as good as his word, blasting the ball emphatically high past Langfield.
But Saints rallied well and it took a fingertip save from Sean Murdoch to prevent Kyle McAllister levelling before half-time.
From the resulting corner, MacKenzie’s header thumped against the right post before being hacked to safety by Nicky Clark.
It had been an encouraging end to the half from the visitors, but better was to follow when they burst out of the blocks after the break.
Murdoch clawed Stevie Mallan’s shot wide, and from the corner MacKenzie thumped home a header.
‘There is always that little bit of personal redemption for a player when he has given away a penalty then gets a goal,’ said Ross. ‘Gary is a huge threat at set-pieces for us and I thought his overall performance was very good.
‘He was unlucky not to score in the first half as well. I am pleased for him. He’s a good character and he has been good in my time here.’
Dunfermline were left ruing an incredible miss when Clark’s ball to the back post met Moffat two yards out, but the ball bobbled up before he shot and he failed to hit the target.
Saints wanted all three precious points, and MacKenzie saw a header well saved by Murdoch.
Langfield kept his side level by making a terrific save from Clark’s header after the dynamic Higginbotham sent him a good delivery.
Higginbotham then thrashed a ferocious free-kick that whistled just past.
Clark came close to netting a winner, but his header from man-of-the-match Higginbotham’s cross was fractionally wide.
‘We are disappointed not to have won the game,’ sighed Pars boss Allan Johnston afterwards.
‘We created a lot of chances and we need to make sure we finish them off.
‘Michael Moffat’s chance took a horrible bobble before he hit it.
‘It was two yards from goal and it’s bounced up in front of him. It’s so unfortunate.
‘But the groundsman has worked really hard to get the game on, so I can’t really complain too much.
‘Kallum Higginbotham showed a lot of bottle to take our penalty after what happened against Ayr.
‘But he’s that type of character. Nobody was going to take the ball off him.
‘After that, we should have put the game to bed and it’s disappointing that we didn’t. But we have kept our unbeaten run intact.’