Saints tumble on the Firhill sword

Aug 26 2008 by Gordon Bannerman, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

IF anyone at McDiarmid Park was weighed down by the club’s status as joint favourites for the championship, they can relax now.

Incredibly, the feel good factor enveloping McDiarmid Park over the summer has evaporated within the space of 180 minutes.

No one saw it coming but the upshot is that Derek McInnes is now grappling with the first serious test of his managerial career.

The evidence of the last two performances, with seven goals conceded and both Dunfermline and Partick nets unstirred, suggests bookies, pundits and the rest of us have called it horribly wrong. Saints trail the leaders by six points and it’s already catch-up time.

If the Pars performance was alarming, a Firhill debacle plumbed new depths.

Call it conviction, call it courage, call it character. Whatever the label, it was absent in a lame surrender punctuated by elementary errors, pot luck passing and a white flag mentality.

Of course, the flak is flying but the players can’t afford to feel sorry for themselves.

There’s quality in spades in this squad but it’s all about bottle now – going the extra yard for teammates and grinding out results to restore confidence on the field and in the stands.

While Kevin James was injured, Euan McLean, Gary Irvine, Paul Sheerin, Derek Holmes and Gavin Swankie were shelved, with a 4-3-3 formation accommodating Steven Anderson, Stuart McCaffrey, Martin Hardie, Collin Samuel and Peter MacDonald.

But no part of the team functioned in Maryhill.

Any resolve to make amends for the Pars defeat was undermined as early as the sixth minute when Saints failed to cope with a corner kick.

That set the tone for a traumatic afternoon, with three of the four Thistle goals – two lavishly converted with 20-yard volleys – emanating from set pieces that weren’t defended properly.

While his refusal to quit was admirable, Kevin Rutkiewicz paid the price for labouring on. He saw it out for an hour but it was painful to watch the stand-in skipper and PA player of the year looking so vulnerable.

Ironically, former Perth players played key roles in putting Saints to the sword, with John Robertson looping an overhead effort beyond rooted Main into the top corner for the opener and Ian Maxwell guiding home the second with an accurate 20-yard volley.

A third Jags defender, Paton, lashed in the third with a breath-taking strike before Gary Harkins latched onto a loose ball bouncing off the chest of sub Derek Holmes to trundle in the fourth via Main and the post. Simon Donnelly, another player familiar to Perth fans, lapped-up a licence to roam and tormented his former employers.

It was remarkable that Saints made it to the interval just one goal down, with Main denying McKeown and fortunate to find unmarked Twaddle heading straight down his throat and Lennon scuffing another opening. It wasn’t until seven minutes from the break that Samuel got the first shot on target.

Rutkiewicz conceded the 48th minute corner which led to Maxwell’s delicious volley and while Samuel, Hardie and Milne threatened, Paton buried Saints with a stunning third from outside the box after Liam Craig lost possession. McCaffrey, who somehow maintained his composure amidst the mayhem, bravely blocked a snapshot but the Jags full-back gambled and hit the jackpot.

The fourth was missed by some Perth fans who had already headed for home. Again, Saints failed to clear a Donnelly corner kick and paid the price.

New arrival Nick McKoy must have wondered what he’d signed up for but an encouraging 16-minute run included a 25-yard strike which skimmed inches wide.

He replaced Craig, who, like Hardie, came perilously close to a red card as frustration triggered ongoing dissent.

Partick Thistle: Tuffey, Paton, Twaddle (McKinley 79), Storey, Robertson, Maxwell, Chaplain, McKeown, Lennon (Gray 69), Donnelly (Roberts 74) and Harkins. Subs not used: Hinchcliffe and Kinniburgh.

St Johnstone: Main, McCaffrey, Smith, Anderson, Rutkiewicz (Irvine 61), Craig (McKoy 74), Millar, Hardie, MacDonald (Holmes 56), Milne and Samuel. Subs not used: McLean and Swankie.

Referee: Mike Tumilty.