Stealthy Saints steal a march on their rivals
A FLASHING header, a first defeat for Hibs at Easter Road on league duty since last December and, all of a sudden, St Johnstone, as if by magic, are sitting fifth in the Ladbrokes Premiership having racked up four wins out of four.
Yes, people talk about how Saints boss Tommy Wright has freshened up his team, brought in new legs up front, sought to become a more attractive proposition.
However, it all tends to be drowned out amid other conversations. Like how Aberdeen are still the second-best team in Scotland. Or how Hibs are overcoming the loss of some key faces to remain one of the most effective sides around.
Well, following an 90th-minute header from captain Joe Shaughnessy, St Johnstone are now further up the league than both of them. What’s more, no one would deny that the Irishman’s instinctive header from a fierce and supremely dangerous David Wotherspoon free-kick — after Darren McGregor had hauled down Chris Kane — saw justice well and truly served here.
Saints were the better of the two teams from start to finish. They hit the bar through Tristan Nydam and had substitute Danny Swanson miss a penalty, the third spot-kick they have failed to convert in the space of three games. They also put the squeeze on Hibs, who badly missed their suspended centre-forward Florian Kamberi, and restricted them to little in the way of chances.
‘I think it was pretty much a perfect away performance,’ beamed Wright. ‘I am happy for the players. Maybe some nice things will be written and said about us now because we proved what a good side we are.
‘We had a difficult four-game run. We lost two to Celtic, one narrowly, and lost 5-1 to Rangers in probably their best performance of the season. I wasn’t panicking. I know plenty of experts were panicking and wanting to put the boot in, but I want to know where their foot is now.
‘The players were magnificent. Anyone at this game can see we have good players and we can play. We didn’t go long. We passed it when we had to, got it into feet, we have runners and flexibility.’
The background to the game had revolved around Neil Lennon (right). The Hibs manager was struck by a coin during the Edinburgh derby in midweek and was vocal pre-match about the abuse he has received during much of his career in Scotland.
A banner and chants throughout the game made it clear the support, in its entirety, was behind him.
However, a sense of unease began to settle around the ground as St Johnstone offered the first real signal of their intent after 14 minutes. A Tony Watt effort from the edge of the area was deflected wide by Efe Ambrose for a corner. Matty Kennedy put the ball in from the left and Nydam was very unlucky with a searing right-footed shot that smacked off the crossbar from 20 yards.
Hibs did have a handful of efforts go wide from distance from the likes of Stevie Mallan and Emerson Hyndman, but they lacked a focal point in attack. With Jamie Maclaren flanked by Martin Boyle and Daryl Horgan, that vital spark just seemed to be missing.
Indeed, with three minutes of the second half played, Lennon’s side were somewhat fortunate not to go behind.
Drey Wright picked up the ball on the right flank and spotted that Watt had got the run on Ambrose at the back post. His cross was testing and dangerous, leaving goalkeeper Adam Bogdan in an impossible position. Watt’s full-length, diving header, however, went just the wrong side of the target. With the game approaching the hour-mark, Hibs needed something to spark them into life. Speculative shots from Boyle and Mallan did force goalkeeper Zander Clark into action, but it looked like the home side had finally ridden their luck as far as it would go on 66 minutes. Swanson, not long on the park after replacing Kennedy, cut in past Mark Milligan from the right and was nudged off the ball inside the area by Marvin Bartley. Referee Nick Walsh was in the perfect position to make the call and showed no hesitation in pointing at the penalty spot. Swanson dusted himself down to take on the responsibility, but his effort from 12 yards was poorly struck and gave Bogdan the opportunity to dive low to his right and get his hand to it. A Hibs fan himself, he briefly replaced Lennon as the focus of the more appreciative chants from the home support.
By the time Shaughnessy had staged his late intervention, though, those chants had turned to jeers. And Easter Road No2 Garry Parker was every bit as critical of the Hibees’ performance as the worst of moaners in the stands.
‘Everything went wrong,’ he said. ‘I’ve never seen a team pass to the opposition so much in my life. I think that is the poorest performance at home since we have been at Hibs.
‘Who came out of the game with any credit going forward? Nobody. I thought they deserved it, by the way.
‘Not having Kamberi is no excuse. We’ve got to be able to do it without him. We picked a team that we thought could go out there and create and we didn’t get anything.
‘It’s a first defeat at home for a long time but you could see it coming. We were flat and had nothing. With two minutes to go, at least don’t lose the game. To concede a goal then is criminal.’