Robinson salutes his
ST JOHNSTONE 1 MOTHERWELL 2
ST JOHNSTONE’S reputation for defensive meanness was carefully constructed with seven clean sheets posted in their last eight matches.
But it was undone in the opening 17 minutes as Tom Aldred and Danny Johnson took advantage of Perth profligacy to direct Motherwell towards their first win at sleet-lashed McDiarmid Park in 10 attempts.
Saints manager Tommy Wright’s aspirations of matching a club record of nine games undefeated and, more importantly, claiming fourth spot in the Premiership standings was also undermined by yet another spot-kick miss, with Matty Kennedy the latest culprit as they slipped to seventh.
A late Jason Kerr header teed-up an anxious finale for their manager Stephen Robinson, but his resolute North Lanarkshire side stood firm.
“It was a really tough game and a scrappy one,” said Robinson.
“We showed a tremendous amount of character. We dug in and battled hard in really difficult conditions.
“We’ve had very good performances and not got results in the last month but our performance levels are what they were last season again.”
Rival manager Wright admitted his side had paid the price for being caught cold at the outset.
“I can’t be too critical of them. I think we deserved a draw out of it on the chances we made,” he said.
“That’s the end of the run we have been on. That doesn’t bother me. But it coincides with dropping three points.”
With five losses on their previous half-dozen road trips they might have