The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
May hoping floodgates have opened
Saints star back among the goals for Perth outfit but Staggies snatch point
ROSS COUNTY 2 ST JOHNSTONE 2
Stevie May is hoping his first goal since his McDiarmid Park return will mark the beginning of a career renaissance.
But the Saints’ prize signing is more concerned with bringing back the good old days of Saints jostling for places in the Premiership top six.
The 26-year-old’s fifth game back with the Perth club threatened to extend a dry patch when Ross Laidlaw saved the Scotland cap’s 20th minute spot-kick.
But Danny Swanson’s dink behind the County defence 14 minutes later set May free to cut a low finish under the County keeper’s body.
It was just like old times for the Saints faithful, although the ding-dong battle in Dingwall finished with honours even.
During his Perth heyday, May hit 32 goals in 55 starts before moves to Sheffield Wednesday, Preston North End and Aberdeen.
At the latter club, he managed just eight in two years before departing in late August.
May’s focus now is to kick on – and kickstart Saints’ stuttering season.
He said: “I’m pleased to have got my first goal, especially after the disappointment of the penalty. Now we’ve got to get more.
“Over the last few years, the club has become accustomed to challenging for the top six and we want to work our way up the table now.
“I think the squad we’ve got is good enough to do that. If we’re a little bit more clinical, there’s no reason to think we can’t.
“From a personal point of view I felt a little bit of pressure. Every striker does when he’s not scoring, no matter what.
“So it was nice to get that one and now I am looking for more.”
While County were furious at the failure of referee Euan Anderson to punish Murray Davidson’s high boot on Billy Mckay just before their second goal, bottom of the table Saints saw it differently.
They felt on pressure and chances, they could have been out of sight in the match.
May stressed: “We’re disappointed because we thought we’d done enough to win, but we were not as clinical as we should have been.
“There are definitely lots of positives, but that doesn’t help us in a way.
“It’s fair to say in other games we’ve played with confidence, but they haven’t quite gone our way.
“But we’re working hard because we’ve got big games coming up against teams we want to finish above, so we have to be ready to go again.
“There was a lot of good stuff and we’ll see that when we look back at the game, but right now we’re down about the result.
“We have a couple of weeks to work and make things right.”
A bright St Johnstone start was extinguished as Joe Chalmers pounced on the rebound after Billy Mckay’s header was turned on to the post by Zander Clark.
Tom Grivosti was then adjudged to have brought Danny Swanson crashing
It was nice to get that one and now I am looking for more. STEVIE MAY
down in the box, in spite of County howls of injustice.
May looked nervous as he struck the penalty and Laidlaw happily saved low to his left.
The Perth men were soon back in business, though, as Swanson’s flick in behind the defence set up May’s trip down memory lane.
To fresh County fury, referee Euan Anderson allowed play to run on early in the second period with Mckay down writhing from what the home camp claimed was a Davidson high boot.
Matthew Kennedy raced on to strike a wonderful shot in off Laidlaw’s left-hand post.
But just when the hosts looked short on ideas, they struck back after Davidson clambered all over Michael Gardyne outside the box.
Ex-Dundee United midfielder Blair Spittal, 22 yards out, produced a sweet dead ball strike to beat Zander Clark inside his right-hand post and level the game at 2-2.
It was only Spittal’s third Premiership start – and first league goal – since making his league debut in the 4-1 defeat at home to Livingston.
The 23-year-old said: “I wasn’t happy with how I was playing up until then, but hopefully it can give me the confidence moving forward.
“Getting goals is something I want to add, while making sure us midfielders are getting up in support of Billy Mckay.
“In the second half, we showed a good reaction to going 2-1 down.
“A lot of teams would have crumbled but we stuck to the gameplan and came away with a point.
“I’ve scored a few free-kicks in the past. Hopefully there will be more opportunities to do that with Ross County.
“It is just a bit frustrating because it was an opportunity for us to build on the last three results.
“But it keeps the positive momentum going into the international break.”