PETER MacDONALD turned and twisted, his movement restricted by invisible forces as he began a re-enactment of the incident which had left him appealing ardently for a penalty.

The St Johnstone striker’s performance prompted a few consolatory nods from those assembled around him in the McDiarmid Park media room, yet the routine had not even registered with referee Stephen Finnie earlier on.

That came at the beginning of the second half when Anssi Jaakola, the Kilmarnock goalkeeper, desperately attempted to retrieve a spilled shot and appeared to restrain MacDonald as he groped around in his penalty area. The striker had hoped his impromptu demonstration would supplant any contention about the foul. You could have been forgiven for assuming that MacDonald had instead been looking to portray St Johnstone’s season through mime.

It has proven to be a relatively unfulfilling campaign for the Perth side, and an utterly frustrating one for manager Derek McInnes. Having celebrated a top-six finish last year the ambition had been to emulate that feat, yet after this draw McInnes admitted he had been forced to reassess that goal. It is, indeed, a lack of goals, that has forced expectations to be lowered.

St Johnstone have not scored enough to warrant a place in the top half of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League after the split. Given that their parsimonious strike rate is equalled by bottom club Hamilton Academical – both sides have scored 18 goals – they have scarcely warranted a place in the league at all. It is too simplistic to only blame the forwards, but MacDonald did not look to avoid scrutiny.

“Strikers are judged on how many goals they score and I am ashamed to say that in 18 games I’ve not scored in the league yet,” he said. “There is no one more embarrassed than me. We’ve kept 16 clean sheets and with that we could be fighting for a European place, but it’s just not been happening at the other end.”

This match was proof of that. Even if you take MacDonald’s penalty claim – and another from substitute Jordan Robertson late on – out of the equation, St Johnstone were still left with enough opportunities to record their first league victory since February 1, which was also the last league match in which a Perth player managed to find the net.

Of course, St Johnstone still have a chance to salvage some success this season, with a place in the Scottish Cup final within reach. They will obviously need to score at some point in the semi-final with Motherwell to get there, but it will be some solace to MacDonald that his side will not be asked to play that match at their own ground. “[The pitch] is awful, it’s disgraceful and there are constantly big holes all over it,” he said.

Kilmarnock also have a few concerns close to home. This was the first match they had played since Mixu Paatelainen left to become manager of Finland, but while their usual fluency was lacking the Finn’s erstwhile assistant Kenny Shiels has already convinced his squad he is a suitable replacement. “He thinks the same way as Mixu about the style and the way we should play football,” said Jaakola.

54’ Peter MacDonald stumbles over Anssi Jaakola as the goalkeeper gropes for the ball but his penalty claim is ignored.

68’ MacDonald sends a looping header on to the crossbar after he rose to meet Murray Davidson’s deep delivery.

89’ Davidson stoops to head Chris Millar’s cross at goal but it is blocked by Jamie Hamill.

90’ Jordan Robertson has his penalty claim waved away after his shot seems to strike Hamill’s arm.