May and Conway double up as Saints enjoy another goal-crazy day
HAMILTON ACCIES 3
Hughes (40, 79), Ogkmpoe (44)
ST JOHNSTONE 5
May (1, 33), Wotherspoon (14), Conway (69, 82)
St Johnstone boss Callum Davidson watched Stevie May and Craig Conway roll back the years as the Perth men hit five past Hamilton in an eight-goal thriller at the Fountain of Youth Stadium to record their first Premiership victory in five matches.
May and Conway both bagged braces as
Davidson’s men made heavy work of things in Lanarkshire after initially racing into a 3-0 lead.
That’s 12 goals in two games for Saints after the midweek 7-0 destruction of Brechin City in the League Cup as the Perth side moved into ninth spot in the league table.
Davidson joked that watching his men wasn’t great for his ticker.
He said: “It was vintage stuff from both Stevie and Craig.
“Stevie is back in good form and his movement is really good, getting behind players again.
“He was very unselfish for Craig’s goal and that’s the pleasing aspect for me.
“The negative was that we conceded three goals and we can deal with things better.
“To score five goals is fantastic but they would give you a heart attack at times.”
Saints scored in the first minute when David Wotherspoon displayed some trickery out on the left flank before crossing for May to supply the merest of touches from close range.
They doubled their advantage on 14 minutes when Wotherspoon unleashed an effort from 20 yards which Accies keeper Ryan Fulton got a hand to but could not stop it sneaking into his bottom right-hand corner.
May then guided in a header which Fulton tipped onto the crossbar, but the striker glanced home Conway’s resultant corner in 34 minutes to
make it 3-0 to the visitors.
Substitute Hughes threw Accies a lifeline on 40 minutes when he controlled Kyle Munro’s pass with his chest and rounded Jason Kerr to sweetly drill home and reduce the arrears to 3-1 as the midfielder bagged his first goal for the club.
And it was game on when Marios Ogkmpoe made it 3-2 a minute from half-time when the Accies hitman planted a header into Zander Clark’s net.
On 69 minutes the excellent May accelerated clear of the Hamilton defence and unselfishly elected to square the ball when a second consecutive hat-trick beckoned and
Conway gleefully slammed home to make it 4-2 to the Perth men.
Back came Accies and Hughes offered them some hope when he smashed into the net 10 minutes later to make it 4-3 after Ross Callachan had cracked an effort off the crossbar.
Conway finally made the points Perth bound when he expertly rifled in a free-kick into the top corner from 25 yards on 82 minutes.
Hamilton boss Brian Rice, who watched his side slump to joint bottom of the Premiership, said: “You sink or swim and I did not see anybody jumping off the ship but we just gave ourselves too much to do.”
ACCIES:
(3-5-2) Fulton 5, Mcmann 5, Odoffin 5, Want 5; Munro 5 (Smith
73, 3), Callachan 5, Martin 5, Templeton 3 (Hughes 20, 6), Hodson 6 (Stirling 78, 2); Ogkmpoe 6, Moyo 5. Subs not used – Gourlay (GK), Collar, Trafford, Mimnaugh, Owolabi, Johnson.
SAINTS:
(3-43) Clark 7, Mccart 7, Gordon 7, Kerr 7; Tanser 7, Davidson 7, Mccann 6 (Bryson 65, 4), Mcnamara 7; Wotherspoon 7, May 8 (Kane 80, 2), Conway 8. Subs not used – Parish (GK), O’halloran, Rooney, Hendry, Booth, Craig.