Slack St Johnstone pay the penalty in Clyde clash

Mar 28 2008

TWO squandered penalties and a succession of missed chances paved the way for St Johnstone’s first home defeat for 12 months.

With the title beyond their reach and the focus now on next month’s Scottish Cup semi-final, Derek McInnes might have been forgiven for leafing through the book of managerial excuses after coming a cropper in front of the lowest league crowd of the season at McDiarmid Park.

But he wasn’t letting a re-shaped team off the hook so easily, insisting that the first half-hour was simply unacceptable.

It wasn’t until relegation-threatened Clyde secured a 30th minute lead that Saints perked up.

Seven days after missing a spot-kick in a memorable cup win over St Mirren, Paul Sheerin put himself in the firing line again, lingering around the penalty spot when David Weatherston was needlessly barged off the ball by reckless defender McGregor as they went for Liam Craig’s cross.

But the stand-in left-back, so accurate earlier in the season from 12 yards, leaned back and launched a left foot strike over the target and into the empty stand.

Next up, it was Craig’s turn.

He’d tucked away a penalty against the Buddies in Perth but this time keeper David Hutton guessed right and ensured it was three successive misses. He’d been given his chance in the 54th minute when the keeper clipped Steven Milne as the striker worked a move with Peter MacDonald, lobbed the ball over his head, only for McGregor to dispel the danger.

Saints did find the net when on-loan Inverness Caley Thistle midfielder Barry Wilson squeezed home a header from Craig’s corner on the hour mark. But despite dominating the second-half, they couldn’t find the goal required to preserve their unbeaten record in front of home supporters.

They slipped behind to a Kevin Bradley strike in the 30th minute, as the Clyde youngster cashed in on Gary Irvine’s unusually poor touch to lash a low shot beyond Alan Main.

The keeper had already fretted over a couple of Jorg Albertz free-kicks and had to beat out Gibson’s shot as the defence parted in front of him after a Kevin Moon mishap.

Having missed the 32nd minute penalty, Milne and Kevin Rutkiewicz came close before Hutton brilliantly tipped away Craig’s powerful 30-yard free-kick.

Three minutes after the restart Allan McManus conceded a foul on the edge of the box.

No prizes for guessing who would take it. Albertz wasn’t tagged The Hammer at Ibrox for his subtlety.

There was a three minute delay as luckless Greg Cameron was removed on a stretcher after sustaining a knee injury in his comeback appearance. But everyone knew the script. Albertz lashed the ball through a splintered wall and Clyde were two ahead.

Penalty number two came and went within minutes but there was time on Perth hands to protect their record with 30 minutes remaining after Wilson’s goal.

There were a couple of half-hearted penalty claims – sub MacDonald looked particularly keen – and 11 minutes from the end MacDonald’s smart turn and cross landed perfectly for Milne, only for the striker’s sweeping connection to zero in on the keeper rather than the net.

Makeshift striker Rutkiewicz could have buried a 90th minute opportunity and in stoppage time a Clyde body blocked Moon’s netbound header and the Bully Wee escaped the dreaded play-off slot.

St Johnstone: Main, Irvine, Sheerin (Hardie 87), Cameron (MacDonald 51), Rutkiewicz, McManus, Wilson,. Craig, Milne, Moon and Weatherston. Subs not sued: Monaghan and Cuthbert.

Clyde: Hutton, McGregor, Gibson, Higgins, Bestvina, Bradley, McGowan (McKay 76), MacLennan, Clark, Arbuckle (McCusker 80) and Albertz (Smith 70). Subs not used: Masterton and Cherrie.

Referee: Eddie Smith.