Head boy Irvine saves the day at Firhill

Jan 20 2009 by Gordon Bannerman, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

SKIPPER Kevin Rutkiewicz is hoping the transfer window closes without a bigger club poaching fast-maturing full-back Gary Irvine.

A product of the Celtic youth system, Irvine left Parkhead in pursuit of first-team football and the athletic right-back capped a magnificent weekend Firhill performance with a breath-taking goal-line clearance to secure a valuable point.

Rutkiewicz is a member of the Irvine fan club and he said: “I’d be surprised if big clubs weren’t having a look at Gary. He has everything you’d want in a modern footballer.

“As right backs go I can’t think of many that are better in Scotland.

He is still young and learning so he will get even better.”

The Saints captain watched Irvine’s form suffer with other players early in the season.

But he observed: “Gary came through that experience shining and it was probably good for him to go through that early on in his career. Week after week he has got better and better. Defensively he has been absolutely brilliant. There’s not been one individual who has got the better of him.”

After 15 games unbeaten, Rutkiewicz is already on countdown to the visit of closest challengers Dunfermline to Perth this weekend.

He said: “We have had a good defensive record over the last seven or eight weeks. It wasn’t going to be pretty against Partick because of the weather but the boys dug in and a draw was fair.

“It would have been a nice one to win but other results went our way.

Now it’s a massive game against Dunfermline. They turned us over in Perth the last time and we’re looking to put that right. We have to be ruthless on our own patch.”

The skipper said a last-gasp row with Paul Sheerin, making his 200th appearance, simply underlined the passion coursing through the Perth squad as they chase the championship from a position of strength.

“We just had a bit of a fall-out. Nothing new about that! We are down each other’s throats right to the death. It’s nothing personal,” said Rutkiewicz.

“I think you have seen us mature and grow as a team. There’s a big difference from the first five or six games when maybe we weren’t a unit. The boys deserve credit for that.”

Striker Derek Holmes is desperate to return to the goal trail but Rutkiewicz tagged him an unsung hero.

“Homer has been outstanding. Sometimes his work goes unnoticed. But there’s no other striker in the league who brings what he does to a team.

“Stevie Milne must have had half a dozen assists from Homer. We know what Homer is doing for the team.

“Maybe he hasn’t found the net as often as he’d like personally but he knocks defenders about, unsettles them and gives others a chance to exploit the gaps. Andy Jackson is going to get better and better and that’s bad news for defenders.”

An ill Rutkiewicz endured a traumatic afternoon when Saints crashed by four goals at Firhill early in the season.

Yesterday, he revealed: “I woke up on the Tuesday in the Royal last time. My dad advised against it but I looked at the tape of the game and had a good laugh about it. It was brutal.”