Davidson hails spirit of Saints after win gives renewed hope
MAINTAINING their Premiership status looked a forlorn hope going into the January break.
But while several clubs parted company with their managers, St Johnstone chairman Steve Brown showed faith in Callum Davidson, his cup double-winning boss, and opted to bankroll a major overhaul of a weary squad that had racked up a record equalling run of defeats.
The refreshed and re-energised Perth side eased past Dundee in the basement with a well-earned victory against third-placed Hearts, with goals from Ali Crawford and Jamie McCart sandwiching a Nathaniel Atkinson equaliser.
McDiarmid manager Davidson welcomed the grit and composure which carved out just a second victory in 17 matches.
‘It’s a massive three points relative to the season but it’s only three points so let’s get some more,’ he said. ‘It’s great to see. It was back to enjoying watching them play again and seeing their desire to go and do things.
‘At home we have struggled for some form but you can see the confidence coming back. Now we all want to start climbing the league and putting teams under pressure.
‘I’ve seen it coming, they’ve proved they’re a good team. They lost belief in November and December but the new players have helped them.’
Hearts may still be on course to claim third and bring European football to Tynecastle — but it was a familiar story for their frustrated fans, as a 12-year wait for a win in Perth goes on.
Manager Robbie Neilson, who watched from a seat in the stand, admitted the fans’ frustration went with the territory after defeats to the bottom two clubs.
‘The last two weeks haven’t been good enough for the level we’ve shown we can get to,’ he admitted.
‘We’re sitting clear in third and we need to remember where we are. We should be putting on a better display and have to take the flak that comes with losing, but I have to look at the bigger picture. We know we will have ups and downs.’
While the match was given the green light after a morning pitch inspection, only the most optimistic of fans taking their seats in the winter sunshine at McDiarmid Park were anticipating a glut of goals.
But latecomers would have missed out on a goal apiece in the first six minutes as goals from Crawford and Atkinson cancelled out each other.
Goal-starved home supporters could hardly believe their eyes as Crawford swept them into the lead after just 53 seconds.
The midfielder latched on to Melker Hallberg’s pass to send a low right-foot finish into the corner from 10 yards, with Ross Stewart’s first touch retrieving the ball from the back of his net.
But Hearts drew level in the sixth minute when Atkinson was first to react after Barrie McKay’s bobbling shot rebounded off the post.
The Australian wing-back had to contend with an acute angle but he calmly rammed his strike under Elliot Parish.
The anxious stand-in keeper then enjoyed a stroke of good fortune when Hearts centre Ellis Simms nudged a bouncing ball goalwards, only to clip the upright before being booted to safety.
Saints regained their lead in the 56th minute, from an unlikely source.
The Hearts marking was negligent when Hallberg’s floated free-kick picked out Jamie McCart in acres of space and the defender took full advantage to power his header beyond Stewart. It was his first league goal of the campaign.
Home keeper Parish preserved Saints’ lead with a brilliant touch over the bar in the 64th minute to prevent John Souttar’s point-blank header finding the net from Stephen Kingsley’s corner kick.
The Rangers-bound defender came even closer to an equaliser in the closing minutes when another header rebounded from the crossbar, with Hearts players claiming the ball had squeezed over the line during a goal-mouth scramble.
But the Perth side survived the late siege to claim just their second home win of the season and revive hopes of engineering a route to Premiership safety.
‘We can only affect ourselves,’ cautioned Davidson. ‘The performances have been coming and I’ll be looking to repeat this next Saturday (against Ross County).
‘If we can perform like that I’ll be a happy man because we’ll climb the league.’