MacLean joy as Saints end the Perth pain
Stevie MacLean hailed his St Johnstone stars for homing in on a big win in the survival fight and bursting their McDiarmid Park hoodoo.
Saints hadn’t won on their own patch in the league since November but captain Liam Gordon led by example with the only goal to move his side five points clear of third bottom Dundee United.
MacLean, who has taken four points from hiss two games in charge, said: “It’s one result but it’s a big one.
“I’m proud. Happy for the players and for the supporters.
“We have broken that chain of losing with the draw against Hibs and then this win but we have to kick on as it’s only two results.
“I’m only looking at Motherwell now and we’ve got to go and beat them.” MacLean admitted it wasn’t the perfect performance against 10-man United.
But he added: a “I think it was deserved. I thought wwe played well. “We had to defend at the end because they’re the fighting for their lives as well.
“If I’ve got a gripe g it would be that we could’ve co scored more, mo we had 17 shots.” sho
United, U backed by 27002 travelling fans, fan tried to make mak a fast start and Steven Fletcher went close with a shot then midfielder Ian Harkes failed to find the net with a header.
But after Ilmari Niskanen saw his shot deflected for a corner, United ran out of steam and Saints took charge.
Adam Montgomery’s cross forced Mark Birighitti to push behind and the keeper then had to tip over a Graham Carey shot.
Saints took the lead just two minutes from the interval.
The United defence failed to deal with a simple ball into the box. Stevie May mis-hit his shot but the ball fell to Gordon on the edge of the box and he fired a low strike past Birighitti.
MacLean was delighted after he challenged all his squad to chip in and bring more attacking options.
The Perth boss said: “It doesn’t matter how they go in. It (Gordon’s goal) was a sublime finish.
“We’ve spoken about set plays and how we get more goals from our defenders and midfielders.
“Everybody has to chip in and I’m delighted for the big man and delighted for the players as well because winning becomes a habit and so does losing.”
United boss Jim Goodwin was booked for his protests over a challenge on Craig Sibbald not being given as a foul.
His mood would only have darkened when his side’s task got even tougher in the second period as experienced defender Charlie Mulgrew was shown a red card for taking down Melker Hallberg.
It was checked and VAR confirmed the call.
Saints looked the more likely to score after that and subs Zak Rudden and Theo Bair combined before the latter fired over.
Carey produced a moment of magic to skip away from Aziz Behich and fired in a shot that Birighitti had to palm away.
United threw captain Ryan Edwards on as an emergency striker as they sounded the bugle late on.
It nearly paid off in stoppage time as Rory MacLeod swung in a cross and Fletcher met it on the volley but the ball cracked off the bar.
Saints were able to see it out and with bottom side Ross County also winning, they keep themselves away from immediate danger.
But it was an afternoon of disappointment for United, who are just a solitary point off the foot of the table, making next week’s home clash with Ross County massive.