According to those hoary pearls of footballing wisdom that have been getting spouted since Roy Race was just a nipper, attack is the best form of defence.
This was the charge of the black and white brigade on Saturday as St Mirren demolished Raith Rovers with a rampaging display of attacking verve. Paisley’s bid for UK city of culture could be won on the strength of the fitba being played in these parts.
“We play in the most pleasing way, it’s just attack every time we get the ball,” said Stephen McGinn, who was one of the driving forces in this terrific, collective performance of energetic, inventive abandon which left the sorry Rovers in a quite appalling muddle. They certainly weren’t dancing in the streets of Raith on Saturday night. They may have been dancing in the streets of, er, Ralston, though.
“I didn’t think it would be 5-0 but I knew we had that kind of performance in us as we’ve shown it in games already this season,” added McGinn in the aftermath of an afternoon illuminated by Stephen Mallan’s hat-trick. “This was a real pressure game and it wasn’t easy to do what we did. Fans have paid the money and that’s how you want to play.”
Jack Ross’ galvanised team cannot be automatically relegated now. At one stage of a tumultuous campaign, hauling themselves off the bottom looked like a mission impossible but that particular mission has been accomplished. They are not home and hosed yet, of course, and they may need to take something from their trip to Hibernian on the final day of the season to avoid the relegation play-off but on this form, the Saints are facing every challenge with buoyant, tireless gusto.
McGinn is simply relishing life in the St Mirren engine room and his drive and creative nous is there for all to see. “It’s one of the best midfields I’ve ever played in in terms of energy and moving the ball,” said the 28-year-old, who will square up to his brother, John, when St Mirren face the Scottish Championship winners at Easter Road. “It’s really exciting to be a part of that and it makes life easy for me.”
There’s still work to do to preserve St Mirren’s Championship status but, in these increasingly upbeat times of exciting possibilities, McGinn afforded himself a little peek into the future.
“If we keep the majority of the team together, we can be challenging at the top of the Championship next season,” added McGinn, who re-joined St Mirren in the January window during Ross’ major overhaul of the squad. “We hit rock bottom just before Christmas but we’re on our way back now. Look at the likes of Kyle Macgennis. He’s only 18 but has already played in 10 to 15 must win games this season. That will do so much for him going forward.
“We don’t want to be in the play-offs, they can be a bit of a lottery, although we’d fancy ourselves if we ended up in there. But we want to take care of business next week.”
Raith, meanwhile, have to beat doomed Ayr and hope other results go in their favour if they are to avoid the play-off. They’ll need to buck up their ideas after this dire display. “It was totally embarrassing,” said the captain, Jason Thomson. “There are livelihoods on the line here. Some of the club staff say ‘make sure I don’t lose my job’ but it’s becoming a reality. If we go down, folk will lose their jobs, not just us. It’s not nice.”
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