Super Saint Davidson showing the way
A MURRAY DAVIDSON first-half double earned St Johnstone their first home win since September and lifted them clear of the relegation zone.
A league run of four defeats and three draws since they beat Rangers at Ibrox in mid-December had set the alarm bells ringing at McDiarmid Park.
But after opening up a nine-point gap on bottom side Ross County, Saints have given themselves wiggle room as they approach the business end of the season.
County, on the other hand, are a club in crisis after just one win in 16 matches.
Staggies substitute Craig Curran saw red six minutes from time in yesterday’s defeat in Perth.
The striker, booked shortly before, earned a second caution when he stupidly pushed Steven MacLean after he had squared-up to Marcus Fraser in the belief that the County skipper had fouled him.
After an away win at Dundee and a home draw with Hearts, the Staggies hoped they had turned the corner.
But manager Owen Coyle took no encouragement whatsoever from this inept performance that could easily have resulted in a heavier defeat.
‘We came here having done a lot of good work in recent weeks,’ he said. ‘We have not done ourselves justice.
‘St Johnstone deserved the three points because, from the first goal on, they were better than us.
‘We never worked their goalkeeper and our two best chances came at the end when we were down to ten men and the game was petering out. It’s hugely disappointing.’
Brendan Rodgers was critical of the St Johnstone players’ attitude after they held Celtic to a goalless draw at Parkhead last weekend, accusing them of only raising their game when they play the Old Firm.
But Tommy Wright’s team’s effort and commitment could not be faulted on this occasion once they got the bit between their teeth.
This was a clinical victory after both sides had displayed an edginess early on and St Johnstone were much more fluid in their movement.
There was also a sense of inevitability that they would eventually garner some tangible reward for their efforts and they did so in the 29th minute.
David Wotherspoon began a promising move when he released Scott Tanser to deliver a cross to the back post and MacLean found Davidson in turn with a cut back.
Davidson’s mis-hit shot could just as easily have gone wide of the target, but it hardly mattered to the midfielder in the circumstances.
He also scored St Johnstone’s second five minutes from the interval. This time he struck a sweet shot from the edge of the penalty box after MacLean and Chris Kane had combined to fashion the opening.
Fraser was fortunate not to concede a third goal three minutes later when he struck his own crossbar with an attempted clearance.
It was a measure of Ross County’s general ineptitude that it took them until the 89th minute to force a save from Alan Mannus, who denied Davis Keillor-Dunn and Chris Routis in turn.
Saints manager Wright said: ‘You always fancy Murray to nick a goal after not scoring for a few weeks and he was excellent the whole game.
‘He was all over the park and was the one that led from the front and got us on the front foot from early on.
‘Too many times this season we have lost the first goal, but the crowd were very good the way they got behind the team.
‘We didn’t make any mistakes and we defended well. When we do that, we always give ourselves a platform to beat any team in this league.
‘It was a good performance and, hopefully, this will be the start of a wee run for us.’