ST JOHNSTONE 2
ST MIRREN 0
IT was a day that one-time Celtic attacker Tony Watt won’t care to recall when he reflects on his career.
St Johnstone could afford to squander two penalties, misplaced by Watt and midfielder Liam Craig, in a one-sided second half as they edged above Aberdeen into seventh place.
August’s player of the month was seeking to end a two-month wait to find the net but, having been denied by Craig Samson’s save of the season candidate early in the contest, Watt contrived to miss an open goal from six yards and see the keeper divert his spot-kick before being substituted.
But second-half goals from David Wotherspoon, his first of the campaign, and Matty Kennedy minutes from the end sealed a deserved win.
Watt’s manager, Tommy Wright, was prepared to overlook the profligacy, given the quality of his team’s second-half performance.
“It wasn’t Tony’s day and he has just said he won’t be watching the match on TV,” said Wright.
“But he will have better days. He is a striker and he will miss chances.
“We put him on penalties but the way his day was going i was tempted to shout on and get Liam to take it but I don’t know if that would have made any difference.
“Tony will get a goal. He was probably celebrating off his header in the first half. It was an incredible save from Samson.
“But he is playing well for us and the goals will come.”
Wright’s side have bounced back impressively after a 6-0 thrashing from Celtic, with this victory coming hard on the heels of claiming three points at Motherwell.
But Buddies manager Oran Kearney is still searching for that elusive first win since taking up the Paisley post, with five successive defeats sapping morale.
The Buddies were infuriated by a controversial first-half call by referee Andrew Dallas, who opted to caution attacker Danny Mullen for simulation when midfielder Murray Davidson seemed to catch the attacker in the penalty area.
The Paisley livewire even required attention before the yellow card was flourished.
“By all accounts the penalty in the first half was absolutely nailed on,” said Kearney.
“Some of the St Johnstone players came in at half-time laughing – not in jest, but disbelief – that it wasn’t given.
“The body language of the St Johnstone players who were around there at the time told me it was a penalty.
“But those are the kind of things that go against you when you are down there where we are.
“When you are in our position those incidents take on so much more importance.”
The commanding Perth side refused to panic when Watt and Craig wasted the opportunities to double their advantage and in the closing stages one-time Kilmarnock attacker Kennedy sealed the victory.
For celebrating home fans, it was a novelty, given their team’s customary reliance on single goal margins of victory at McDiarmid Park.
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