Festive cheer in short supply as battle of Saints is goalless
With no goals, there was little else for it but St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright was happy to accentuate the positives of a third successive clean sheet after a frustrating stalemate against St Mirren.
The Perth side will point to enjoying the most clearcut opportunity of a bleak 90 minutes that spread little Christmas cheer to those inside Mcdiarmid Park.
But with St Mirren keeper Vaclav Hladky winning his personal duel with Michael O’halloran in the first half, it proved to be a disappointing afternoon for both teams in front of goal.
In such circumstances, with his side having eased themselves off the foot of the Premiership in recent weeks, racking up a hat-trick of consecutive shut-outs was welcomed by Wright.
“It was a difficult game,” he said. “They worked extremely hard and made it difficult for us, at times. But we had the best chances and we didn’t take them. They were the better clear-cut chances.
“I thought a draw was probably a fair result but if we had taken one of those chances in the first half then I think we would have gone on to win the game
“We didn’t do enough, too many players dwelt on the ball and were not as positive as we should have been when we had the ball.
“But, once again, we defended well and that’s a positive.
“St Mirren were very direct. They made it pretty difficult at times but we stood up to that. So that pleased me.
“It’s three games unbeaten and when you’ve been in the position we’ve been in that’s a positive.”
Both sides could claim to be
on the up before kick-off. With a win and a draw each from their last two games, both Saints were keen to keep their revival going at Mcdiarmid Park.
O’halloran stung the palms of Hladky within 45 seconds but it was too much too soon for the watching supporters. Thereafter, the match was high on perspiration and low on inspiration.
When St Mirren did create a chance after 16 minutes, it was down to a St Johnstone mistake.
Skipper Jason Kerr’s slip gifted the ball to Jon Obika but the striker selfishly decided against playing in either Junior Morias or Ilkay Durmus and his eventual shot was beaten away by Zander Clark.
Paul Mcginn bundled over
Matty Kennedy in the box but the home side’s appeals were waved aside by referee John Beaton who failed to penalise Ryan Flynn for an off-the-ball tug on the St Johnstone winger in the second half.
“I don’t know whether it’s a penalty or not,” added Wright. “But there were a few decisions I couldn’t figure out.”
St Johnstone enjoyed the best chance of the match in the 27th minute. A triangle of passes succeeded in sending O’halloran scampering clear but Hladky blocked the attacker’s low shot with his legs.
When St Mirren botched a two-on-one opportunity a minute later it again highlighted the goalscoring problem that has blighted their campaign.