St Johnstone 0-1 Kilmarnock (original) (raw)
Image source, SNS
Image caption,
Scott Boyd turns home the winning goal for Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock ended their six-match winless run as Scott Boyd's goal gave them victory at McDiarmid Park.
Kilmarnock keeper Jamie MacDonald kept the scores level with two excellent stops to deny Liam Craig and Blair Alston.
Steven MacLean thought he had put Saints ahead just before the break, but his strike was ruled out for offside.
The home side were made to pay for spurning their chances when Boyd turned home the winner for Killie.
The victory moves Killie up to ninth in the Premiership table while St Johnstone remain in fifth.
Saints off target
St Johnstone came in to this as clear favourites and did dominate spells of the game.
They found Killie keeper MacDonald in good form as they pressed but in truth they did not fire enough on target throughout the 90 minutes.
Possession, territorial advantage, numerous corners were all there but the decisive finish missing.
The breakthrough seemed to have arrived late in the first-half when MacLean took of advantage of hesitancy in the Kilmarnock defence, nipped in and slotted past the exposed MacDonald.
The assistant referee flagged offside. It was a very tight one.
Credit to Kilmarnock for standing firm after losing 10 goals in their last two outings.
They got their goal from a counter when Boyd bundled Jones' corner home late on and held out with a degree of comfort.
That was their first effort on target in over 180 minutes of football which needs to be improved on.
No matter, a big boost for Lee Clark and his side.
Image source, SNS
Image caption,
Jordan Jones tries to hold off the challenge of Richard Forster
MacDonald's safe hands
One consistent bright spot for Kilmarnock is goalkeeper MacDonald.
As St Johnstone began to dominate early on he produced two outstanding saves to keep his side level.
The first low to his left to save a firm, well placed header from Craig.
Minutes later he got a fingertip to Alston's angled side-foot across goal to divert it past the post.
That allowed Kilmarnock to gain a foothold and progress up the pitch, which to their credit they did at times and gave the home side something to consider.
It's not just MacDonald's saves. He's alert, anticipates well and looks to get the ball moving.
One man does not make a team but MacDonald is worth his weight in gold to this Killie side, as his manager well knows.
Wright wronged?
Tommy Wright might feel his side were hard done by in losing the three points.
They allowed the match to drift in spells, particularly in the second-half when a more aggressive tempo might have put Kilmarnock under greater pressure.
It's a setback but in the grand scheme of things he can point to a strong start to the season. Frustrating not to have capitalised in a game they might have expected to.
Reaction
St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright: "We should have won. It was a comfortable game for us.
"We had great opportunities to win the game but I thought with the amount of possession we had we could have created more chances.
"We've dropped three points today when I felt we shouldn't. Fair play to them, they defended well and took their chance.
"I've been hard on them in the dressing room because I think it's three points lost. There's no point in pussyfooting about with that that's the facts."
Kilmarnock manager Lee Clark: "That's the type of performance that allows you to get three points.
"Battling, people putting their bodies on the line. We felt we always had a threat.
"They're a good team. We knew coming off the back of two heavy defeats we were going to have to work really hard to get something.
"We've won the game and got that first clean sheet of the season. It's given everyone a big boost.
"As long as we can defend properly we've got opportunities to score. It's the old one of set plays being crucial, it wins many games at all levels of football."
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