Killie make point in battle with Buddies
THERE were two pivotal moments here when Kyle Lafferty and Rory McKenzie’s eyes lit up with the chance to be a hero. Unfortunately for the Kilmarnock pair, they saw St Mirren keeper Trevor Carson staring right back at them.
Only seven — yes, seven — seconds had been played as the match restarted after the interval.
St Mirren made a mess of it, Lafferty was through on goal but the Northern Irish goalkeeper stuck out his foot to deny his fellow countryman.
McKenzie then had the chance to show him how to do it midway through the second period in another one-on-one situation but, again, Carson was there to save Saints.
Given Derek McInnes’ men had lost all five away games in the Premiership prior to this visit to Paisley, there were encouraging signs as they dominated the second half to claim their first league point on the road. They sit 10th, only above Dundee United and Ross County on goal difference.
St Mirren remain fourth having missed the chance to make it five home wins in a row and rise up to third in the table.
‘Trevor’s two saves were fantastic,’ admitted Saints manager Stephen Robinson. ‘He’s an international goalkeeper, so we expect that from him but that’s why we brought him to the club. We owe him the point.’
McInnes was left to rue Carson’s saves as the visitors threatened but couldn’t break his resistance.
‘In the Premiership, your No9 and your goalkeeper normally win you points when you’re not doing so well,’ said the Killie manager, who will monitor a groin strain picked up by midfielder Blair Alston ahead of his team hosting Dundee United in the League Cup quarter-final on Tuesday night.
‘Stephen’s pleased with his own goalkeeper and I can see where he’s coming from. He made a couple of great saves.
‘They were good chances for us that we didn’t take. We should have done better in these moments but we still have to beat a very good goalkeeper — and we couldn’t do that.’
An early chance for the hosts arrived after eight minutes when Ryan Strain’s ball over the top found Jonah Ayunga, but his shot from a tight angle was saved by the feet of Killie goalkeeper Zach Hemming.
Ten minutes before the break, Scott Tanser’s cross from the left was cleared by Kilmarnock but only as far as Strain on the edge of the box. The Aussie had to hit it quickly with yellow shirts chasing him down but his fierce effort was tipped over the bar by Hemming.
Excitement rose among the home support when Strain’s looping cross was headed down in the box by
Curtis Main but Ayunga could only take a wild swipe at the ball. A cleaner connection would have surely given Killie something to think about.
And then, right on the stroke of half-time, the best chance of the game when Tanser’s delivery was met by Main but his diving header flew just wide.
Then came the two key moments when Carson shone. From the restart, Mark O’Hara passed to Charles Dunne, whose clearance was blocked and presented Lafferty with the chance to race through oneon-one but the Saints keeper somehow blocked the ball with his feet.
Lafferty will face his SFA hearing on Thursday, with a possible 10-match ban looming after he was filmed making an alleged sectarian comment.
McInnes’ men had become far more threatening but were again thwarted by Carson.
Just like Lafferty, McKenzie was through on goal but again the Saints keeper pulled off a terrific stop before he dived on the ball following Jordan Jones’ follow-up effort.
Saints substitute Alex Gogic had only been on the pitch a few minutes before he was booked for a tough challenge on McKenzie.
Up stepped Daniel Armstrong with a free-kick on the right corner of the box but his effort curled over the crossbar.
‘I thought this would be an important week in our season with us trying to get to a semi-final and a home game next week against Ross County,’ added McInnes. ‘This was a tough start today but I’m pleased with a lot of what we’ve done.
‘Hopefully whoever is fit for Tuesday gets the job done because it is an important step for us as a club to get to a semi-final.’
Pleased with his team’s fine home form, Robinson added: ‘The crowd maybe deserved to see a better spectacle than that today. But they appreciate where we are and the fact we’re trying to build something and move forward.
‘I will back these boys to the hilt as they give me absolutely everything.
‘We probably got away with one today. There’s no huge inquest, because we just know we can be better than that.’