Perth men see record-breaking effort fall short

ST JOHNSTONE were denied a club record sixth consecutive Premiership win by the woodwork when Matty Kennedy’s late attempt cannoned off Daniel Bachmann’s post. Saints did at least have the satisfaction of extending their run without conceding a goal to 546 minutes since being hit for six by Celtic. But they had to rely on goalkeeper Zander Clark making an international class save to deny Greg Stewart a goal on the hour. Even Kilmarnock boss Steve Clarke was impressed, describing Clark’s stop as ‘a hell of a save’. But he also felt that his side should have left McDiarmid Park with three points after claiming: ‘We probably shaded the game but I would say we didn’t do enough in the final third.

‘We got into good positions but our final ball wasn’t quick enough and we didn’t work the goalkeeper enough. Although when we did, he made a hell of a save.

‘They have six clean sheets in a row, so it shows they’re doing something right.’

The stage had looked set for a cracker, given that Saints had equalled their previous best Premiership run of five wins and Kilmarnock had lost only one of their previous eight league matches. But, as so often happens, when good things are anticipated the end product never quite lives up to expectations.

Instead of free-flowing, off-the-cuff football and plenty of goals, the match was dominated by the respective defences.

And the efficiency of both back divisions meant there was a dearth of openings, especially in the first half with Tony Watt heading over and Liam Craig missing a great chance.

Not that Kilmarnock did a whole lot better, with Mikael Ndjoli and Kirk Broadfoot both having efforts blocked. Thankfully, It was a more engrossing second half, culminating in Stewart and Kennedy going desperately close to hitting a winner.

Saints manager Tommy Wright said: ‘A draw is the correct result. Kilmarnock are a good side that set out to frustrate you and they did that. It’s a good point now and tomorrow I’ll still think that it is a good point.’

Wright picked out his back four for a special mention, adding: ‘We have had six clean sheets in a row and I thought the defence was outstanding, again.

‘Richard Foster dealt with their wingers, while Scott Tanser on the other side was solid and our centre-halves were rocks.

‘Zander showed again he’s ready to play at a higher level because he had nothing to do and then pulled out a save like that.’