St Johnstone secure point against Hamilton Accies

Dec 1 2009 by Gordon Bannerman, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

FILIPE Morais was crystal ball gazing again after his first SPL strike of the campaign secured a point for a Perth team frustrated in their bid for back to back wins, writes Gordon Bannerman.

Accies, as ever, attempted to suffocate Saints, with their players under strict instructions to stalk their opponents.

They're flirting with restraining orders.

It would have been no surprise if red and white jerseys had made their way into the home dressing room at half-time to eavesdrop on the tactics talk.

But Morais exploited rare space in the Hamilton penalty area five minutes after Mickael Antoine-Curier's 24th minute opener threatened to make life hard. Given Hamilton's disciplined and defensive set-up, it might have turned into a long and frustrating afternoon for home fans. So a rare Morais header was warmly welcomed.

Injuries have irritated the inventive winger this season but the Portuguese predictor is tipping himself to produce and lay-on more goals in the months ahead.

Having assured Jonaton Johansson he'd score against Hearts, St Johnstone's answer to Derren Brown was again harnessing his psychic powers to look into the future, with Morais anticipating the sky's the limit for manager and mentor Derek McInnes.

That should seal his starting place for the Kilmarnock game!

Morais, a pre-match doubt with a back strain, used his head from eight yards to power home a perceptive cross delivered from the right by Kevin Moon, making a belated first ever SPL appearance after injury woes of his own.

The winger sent a wayward Kevin Rutkiewicz strike spinning inches over the bar with an instinctive diversion, came within inches of burrowing a 40-yard free-kick into the corner and drilled a late shot straight at Accies keeper Tomas Cerny, whose most memorable moment was a 48th minute full-length diving save to tip past Murray Davidson's netbound 18-yarder.

While Saints had started brightly, with Kenny Deuchar unable to convert a Dave Mackay cross against one of his former employers, one of a series of troublesome corner kick deliveries opened-up their defence. Hastings' delivery took a nick at the front post and on-loan Dundee centre Antoine-Curier did the needful at the back. Allowing Accies something to defend is never a good idea. But Morais ensured Hamilton weren't going to improve on a one win in 14 record at McDiarmid. It also extended Saints record of netting in the first half of every home match this season.

A Morais corner almost ended Deuchar's increasingly frustrating wait for that elusive first league goal but the centre's header missed the target, Davidson powered a header past from a Rutkiewicz delivery after sparking to life after the interval and Morais inched an 18-yarder past with Cerny scrabbling.

Antoine-Curier was denied in a rare second-half Accies attack, with Rutkiewicz getting in a vital tackle to deflect a close range shot over the bar.

The skipper, still working his way back to last term's standards after injury, got his bearings right, despite leading the team into the wrong half of the field after half-time.

Home keeper Graeme Smith handled a Hastings long-ranger but had precious little to fret about as a war of attrition unfolded in front of him.

Hamilton's time-wasting told a tale of its own and manager Billy Reid, lectured by referee Willie Collum along with Tony Docherty at one stage, admitted he was relieved to secure a point, having lost to Saints on home territory.

Morais looked the most likely candidate to prise open Reid's three-man defence, with even St Johnstone's full-backs man-marked, but with Chris Millar replacing a waning Moon and Johansson another late introduction, Accies held firm, survived a spot-kick claim and made off with a share of the spoils.

ST JOHNSTONE: Smith, Mackay, Grainger, McCaffrey, Rutkiewicz, Morris, Moon, Davidson, Morais, Deuchar and Samuel. Subs not used: Main, Irvine, Craig, May and Durnan.

HAMILTON ACCIES: Cerny, Hastings, Canning, McLaughlin (McClenahan 90), Wesolowski, McArthur, Antoine-Curier, Neil, M. Paixao (F. Paixao 68), Elebert (Beuzelin 79) and Mensing. Subs not used: Murdoch, Evan, Kirkpatrick and Wilkie.

Referee: Willie Collum.