Steelmen’s early double puts the Saints to the sword
ST JOHNSTONE 1
Kerr (83)
MOTHERWELL 2
Aldred (1), Johnson (17)
They have been keeping clean sheets for fun.
But there was nothing for St Johnstone to smile about as Motherwell wrecked their unbeaten run.
Against a Well side with just two wins away from home all season – and without one in Perth for six years – Saints were gunning for a club recordequalling ninth consecutive game without defeat.
But a Tom Aldred strike after 98 seconds and a Danny Johnson effort on 17 minutes were enough to snuff out their hopes.
But the Steelmen’s early surge sworded Saints’ game plan – and Tommy Wright was far from happy with his team’s slackness. “The start killed us,” he said. “We talked about it before the game. The conditions weren’t ideal so we talked about doing the basics well.
“Right from the start of the game we don’t clear our lines well, then we give away a needless corner which leads to the first goal.
“The second goal, really… we lose the ball cheaply up our end of the pitch, there’s one ball down the side, then we’ve two bites of the cherry to clear our lines and we don’t do it.
“They stick it away and we’re 2-0 down – and it’s always going to be difficult from there.”
The statistics didn’t bode well for the Well before kick-off.
Saints’ unbeaten run had seen them win six and draw two, with only two goals conceded along the way – both in the same game against Hearts.
So, seven clean sheets out of eight was the first record the Steelmen were looking to sully – and they did it inside two minutes.
It came, just as both of the Jam Tarts’ had 10 days prior, from a set piece.
David Turnbull, with the wind and sleet swirling into Zander Clark’s goal, whipped in a corner, which found its way straight through to the back post.
There it found the lurking Tom Aldred, who turned the ball home past a ruck of players, to Clark’s evident, turf-hammering frustration.
Still, it was early, and Saints had plenty of time to regroup.
Instead, their shape seemed to hinder them, with Motherwell’s high press and midfield presence keeping the home side pinned back.
Danny Johnson nabbed a second for the dominant Well just 17 minutes in, thanks largely to some uncharacteristically sloppy Saints defending.
Then there was another costly Saints miss – this time from the penalty spot.
The award was cut and dry – a handball by Charles Dunne from Matty Kennedy’s delivery.
Up stepped Kennedy, but Mark Gillespie threw himself to his left to make a fantastic save.
Motherwell retreated, sitting deeper and inviting Saints on.
The Perth side peppered Gillespie’s goal in the 10 minutes before half-time.
It was pretty much all Saints – but the Steelmen also saw a Carl McHugh header cleared off the line before the break.
To Well’s credit, they came out after the break full of intent.
They wanted a third – and came closest through McHugh, then Turnbull.
But the home side rallied. McMillan missed a chance to level, lashing a volley high over the bar from Kennedy’s cross.
Then Danny Swanson saw a fine effort after a dancing run deflected wide for a corner.
Jason Kerr headed home a Matty Kennedy cross from a short corner to give the home fans hope with seven minutes left .
But the travelling Well fans were the ones celebrating at full-time.