Sammon leaps forward to make a special point
CONOR SAMMON was spot on as Thistle rescued a point with a late equaliser to increase their Premiership survival prospects.
There were only two minutes remaining at McDiarmid Park when referee Alan Muir awarded Thistle a penalty after Liam Craig had brought down Ryan Edwards at a stage in the game when Saints looked well in charge.
Sammon and Martin Woods apparently squabbled over who should take the kick but it was the Irishman who won the argument — much to the relief of their manager, Alan Archibald.
While Woods is to be admired for having the bottle to step forward in a crisis, Sammon is the player with a proven track record as a goalscorer.
In the event, he sent Zander Clark the wrong way to score what may ultimately turn out to be one of the most important goals of his career, given its possible ramifications.
This result extend Thistle’s advantage over bottom side Ross County to two points and sets the stage for a tense relegation decider between the sides at Firhill on Friday night.
Archibald is to be congratulated for his inspired second-half changes, with both Sammon and Edwards coming off the bench to play a crucial part in snatching the draw after Joe Shaughnessy headed Saints in front after 39 minutes.
‘The subs didn’t have the impact we had hoped through open play, but credit to St Johnstone for that as well,’ said Archibald.
‘We’re just delighted that Ryan won the penalty and Conor slotted it away. It showed a real spirit.
‘People thought we’d come and win just because of our record here and the fact that St Johnstone are safe, but they were very good at stopping us playing.
‘It’s not just the point or the fact we are unbeaten for two games — which might sound a bit pathetic — but the psychological boost going into the Ross County game is the biggest thing.
‘I think Martin Woods wanted to hit the penalty but you wouldn’t argue with someone Conor’s size. He’s a cool customer and a total professional, so I had every confidence in him.’
Thistle had an opportunity to draw first blood after only eight minutes when Steven Lawless lost his marker and space opened up for him. But the midfielder’s finish lacked the necessary accuracy to test Clark.
From then on, it was largely one-way traffic for the remainder of the first half, culminating in Saints creating a series of chances and Thistle riding their luck.
George Williams created the first of them when he played in Matty Willock after 13 minutes.
But for Callum Booth sticking out a foot to take the sting out of Willock’s shot, it is doubtful that Tomas Cerny would have been able to make a save.
The goalkeeper then enjoyed a stroke of good fortune when David Wotherspoon’s 22nd-minute effort bounced off his chest.
Minutes later, Woods also had to make a goal-line clearance from Shaughnessy.
However, Thistle’s defence was breached six minutes before the interval when Craig delivered a superb cross for Shaughnessy to head past Cerny.
The visitors displayed a little more thrust in the second half and came close to scoring twice in the space of four minutes.
Chris Erskine’s volley was saved by Clark and Kris Doolan rattled the crossbar with a header.
But super sub Sammon came to Thistle’s rescue with a minute left to leave Saints boss Tommy Wright cursing his team’s defending.
He said: ‘The way we’ve lost late goals has been our Achilles heel most of the season.
‘You couldn’t call it a set-play, just a punt into the box from 50 yards. If you don’t win the first header, then you must win the second and we didn’t do that.
‘The referee was adamant it was a penalty, although I’m not sure he had a great view and I don’t know if Liam made a lot of contact.
‘But his decision to block Edwards — when I don’t even know if he could get his shot in — was poor.’