Saints break the away-win curse

Mar 13 2009 by Gordon Bannerman, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

SO single-minded Derek McInnes and his players aren’t paying any attention to results posted elsewhere.

Believe that and you’ll be relying on the Tooth Fairy to navigate your way through the Credit Crunch.

There probably won’t be white flags flying over Dens and East End Park just yet but midweek defeats for Dundee and Dunfermline left their fans staring at the prospect of another season in the First Division while the money men ponder how to balance the books.

With Saints posting their first away win since dispatching the Fifers in early November, it’s looking like a two-horse race between the Perth club and Partick Thistle, especially if McInnes can fashion a win in Livingston this weekend.

It took until the closing seconds before a tenacious, if distressingly blunt Bully Wee were finally put to the sword, but the hundreds from Perth who opted for Broadwood ahead of the Champions League relished the final whistle, and news filtering through from elsewhere.

McInnes sprang a surprise with his line-up, leaving Derek Holmes and Liam Craig on the bench after two disappointing home draws.

The Perth players were patiently retaining possession, passing and probing for a chink in the defensive armour of a side which went 45 minutes without threatening Alan Main.

The Perth midfield four turned in a composed performance, and the positive reception which greeted Gavin Swankie as he departed must have been music to his ears after the stick coming his way in recent weeks.

It wasn’t until 38 minutes in that Saints secured the lead. Kevin Moon enjoyed another productive shift, picking out Stevie Milne in the penalty area. His touch and spin baffled Gibson, leaving the defender on the deck as the striker lashed a low angled strike into the far corner.

Then a Millar run should have been rounded off by Barrett, only for the industrious striker to fluff his lines.

The match looked done and dusted two minutes after the interval when Swankie enjoyed reward for patience and perseverance, whipping a shot past Hutton after turning fall guy Gibson.

But from their one and only corner the home side snatched an unlikely lifeline in the 63rd minute. Higgins rose at the back post and Alan Lithgow was first to react to stab the loose ball over the line.

Saints were unnerved and survived a scare when a Lithgow connection veered over the bar.

But while Millar was the victim of a farcical booking decision by referee Iain Brines, who was alone in spotting simulation, Saints took a huge stride toward their ultimate goal with Milne’s second of the night.

He instinctively jabbed out a foot to divert a deflected Liam Craig shot into the net from close range and that’s now 22 games on the bounce undefeated.

Clyde: Hutton, Stevenson, Waddell, Higgins, Gibson, Lithgow, Kettlewell (Wilson 71), MacLennan, Gemmill (Trouten 46), Tade (McKay 46) and McLaren. Subs not used: Brown and Cherrie.

St Johnstone: Main, Irvine, Byrne, Moon, Rutkiewicz, McCaffrey, Swankie (Craig 81), Millar, Milne (MacDonald 90), Barrett (Holmes 75) and Sheerin. Subs not used: Gartland and McLean.

Referee: Iain Brines.