St Johnstone 1
Clydebank 3
League (Division 1)

Match Report

What a difference a year makes. Fifty-one weeks ago, St. Johnstone returned to Perth having beaten Clydebank 2-0 at Kilbowie, in a game where the home side had all the pressure, but gave away two second half goals.

Last season Saints were riding high, while Bankies languished near the foot of the table. As I said, what a difference a year makes.

The Perth side, having sold top scorer and prized asset Ally McCoist to Sunderland, are a shadow of last year's promotion chasing squad. Clydebank? Well, let's just say there's no way they'll struggle against relegation a second time.

It's hard to say what has turned Sammy Henderson's men from last year's uninspired rabble to this new, irresistible force. Maybe it's the influence of the new boss. Or the individual skills of men like the two Gerrys, Ronald and McCabe.

But I think it's just that this Bankies side plays for each other, and plays to its strength, good, solid defence, creative midfield play and the all-too-occasional flash of goalscoring magic.. Saturday's match showed all these facets off to the full.

The faithful Kilbowie travelling support forgot about the bitter cold of Muirton Park as first Millar, then Coyne, put their favourites two up in the first half hour to kill off an inept Saints side.

Blair Millar got Clydebank off in the best possible start in six minutes, when he played a neat one-two with Gerry McCabe to crash the ball past Tulloch and in off the underside of the bar.

The Saints programme said of McCabe: ". a player who has tormented St. Johnstone defences. both with Clydebank and Clyde." Surely they have never suffered at his hands or feet more than they did on Saturday. From virtually his first touch of the ball, when he won a crunching midfield challenge, nutmegged a defender and put McKeown away, his was the name on everyone's lips. non

The home defence continued to give Bankies chance after chance as the first half went on. Shortly after Millar's opening goal, Coyne fluffed a shot from the edge of the box following a Ronald free-kick.

Millar proved a constant thorn in the Saints' flesh, coming close to adding to his early counter on several occasions. Tiny Perth keeper George Tulloch had to be brave and act as an extra defender three times, as Millar and McKeown beat his defence for speed and skill.

What chances St. Johnstone did create ended either in a mishit, trundling shot or a piece of no-messing defending by the visitors. But after a few near misses the nearest of which was a flashing Brannigan drive which came close to decapitating an innocent bystander on the terracing Bankies settled down, and after 29 minutes, hit Saints with a killer blow.

Blair Millar had the chance to make it 2-0 in 28 minutes, when a bad passback left him clear, only for Tulloch to smother his effort again. The big man made up for this miss within a minute, when he took a through ball on the edge of the box, beat the advancing defence and slid his shot under Tulloch.

Tom Coyne, left all alone yards from 'goal, tapped home to preserve his excellent scoring record.

Near the interval, it became almost embarrassing to see Bankies, and especially Ronald and McCabe, toy with the Perth side, holding the ball, inviting men to come at them and then leaving them for dead.

And so it went on. A pleasing factor of the second half was the growing influence in the side of Campbell McKeown, culminating in his superb first-time drive to put the game beyond doubt after 79 minutes.

Earlier in the season, I doubted McKeown's worth as a regular midfielder in the side, but recent performances. topped by Saturday's showing, make me sure that he has arrived. His work-rate is first-class, he has skill, and, through time, he could be just the man to add more goals like Saturday's.

Seven minutes from the end, Jim Morton made the score-line a little respectable when he curled lovely free-kick past Gallacher If it's any consolation to Saints, it was the goal of the match.