History-maker Craig is upstaged by killer Kane
ST JOHNSTONE 3
Kane (31, 39), May (46)
DUNDEE 1
Sweeney (74)
St Johnstone boss Callum Davidson revealed his players gave Liam Craig a thunderous round of applause after making his 442nd appearance for the Perth club.
Craig couldn’t have chosen a better day to become the man who has made most appearances for Saints.
It was their seventh consecutive win over Dundee and Davidson claimed the performance was the best of the season so far.
He said: “It’s a fantastic achievement for Liam and the lads gave him a big ovation.
“It’s not just what he brings on the pitch that’s so important to us, it’s also his character, enthusiasm and drive.
“We said before the game that we didn’t want to get too emotional about the occasion but we wanted to mark the day with a win.”
Davidson was delighted to record such an emphatic victory, despite being without Murray Davidson, Jamie Mccart, Liam Gordon and James Brown.
He added: “I can be a bit critical of us for not keeping the ball well enough when we were 3-0 up and Dundee were trying to get back into the game, but everything else was really good.
“We scored three good goals. The one after half-time killed the game off and I’m not used to being three ahead, so I wasn’t sure what to do.”
It’s unusual to see two sides both wearing the same colour of strip these days.
Yes, they’re different shades of blue but every player had white shorts and that could be confusing in a split second.
The early part of the encounter saw the sides sharing periods of possession without creating much.
Michael O’halloran did serve up an early opportunity for Stevie May after a burst down the wing and that was a sign of things to come.
The striker pulled his shot wide but team-mate Chris Kane later broke the deadlock with a fabulous finish.
Shaun Rooney played a great pass down the right and O’halloran timed his run to perfection before pulling the ball back. Kane then produced a thumping shot for his first league goal of the season.
His second wasn’t far away – May came up with the cross and the 27-year-old was first to the ball as he stabbed home.
Dundee’s failure to create any meaningful attacks during the first 45 wasn’t up for debate.
One question that was raised concerned when the first of their supporters left the ground.
Quite a number left their seats when the second goal went in, but they might have been taking the chance to get ahead of the queue for a halftime pie.
Several did decided they’d seen enough when their favourites went three behind less than a minute after the restart.
The Dark Blues had attempted to shake things up with a double substitution at the break – Cillian Sheridan being brought into attack and Luke Mccowan in midfield.
Playing a back four should have brought more solidity but the players were just settling in to a new formation when O’halloran crossed for May to stroke home.
Dundee finally got going with about 20 minutes left.
Ryan Sweeney scored with a header from a Paul Mcmullan corner and that led to an increased tempo from his team-mates.
St Johnstone were guilt of relaxing a little as the Dee finally raised their game.
The extra effort, however, was too little, too late – much to their manager’s frustration.