Kilmarnock
substitutes Tommy Johnson and Kris Boyd finally sparked some life into a
dull game in front of the lowest ever Scottish Premier League crowd at
St Johnstone, in a match the visitors won 3-0.
Johnson replaced
Ally Mitchell at half-time and opened the scoring from a free-kick just
after five minute, later before adding his second of the day nine
minutes later.
Saints could have
pulled a goal back when they were awarded a penalty after Paul Hartley
was brought down by Gordon Marshall.
But second half sub
Peter MacDonald's spot-kick was blocked by goalkeeper Gordon Marshall.
(above).
Young substitute
Kris Boyd also made an impact on the game when he netted the third goal
with just six minutes remaining.
For those opposed to
the idea of the Scottish Premier League splitting into two sections
after 33 games, this game was the ideal case study to back that
argument.
Seventh-placed
Kilmarnock headed into the game one point ahead of Dunfermline - who sat
one place above them in the table - knowing they had no chance of
progressing any further despite the outcome of their remaining matches.
The indifference
surrounding this particular game was underlined further by the fact that
the attendance for an SPL game hit an all time low of just 2,285 - less
than the previous record of 2610 who turned out to watch Dunfermline
play Motherwell a year ago
St Johnstone had the
opportunity to open the scoring after nine minutes when Craig Dargo
hauled down Tommy Lovenkrands 30 yards out.
But Hartley hit the
resultant free-kick long and low through the Killie defence but
goalkeeper Marshall never really looked troubled and the effort was
easily held.
Andy McLaren
was easily the most impressive player in the first half and he was
unlucky not to open the scoring from a free kick when he clipped the
crossbar from 18 yards.
Kilmarnock manager
Jim Jefferies opted to make two changes at half-time when Ally Mitchell
was replaced by Johnson and youngster Sean Dillon was given his chance
in place of Stephen Murray.
That decision paid
off almost immediately for the Rugby Park side when they surged into the
lead just five minutes after the re-start.
Former Celtic hitman
Johnson stepped up for a free-kick on the corner of the area and left
Cuthbert helpless when he fired low past the Saints goalkeeper into the
bottom corner of the net to add some life to the game.
Saints tried to hit
back six minutes later when Graeme Jones attempted the volley but the
shot deflected off team-mate Hartley into the safety of goalkeeper
Marshall's arms and the chance was lost.
Saints had the ideal
opportunity to haul themselves back into the game after 69 minutes when
referee Bobby Orr ruled Hartley was brought down by Marshall and pointed
to the penalty spot.
MacDonald had
replaced Keigan Parker five minutes earlier and he stepped up for the
spot-kick only to aim straight at the goalkeeper who managed to block
and retain the two goal advantage.
Then, with just six
minutes remaining, they were hit by the proverbial sucker-punch when
Killie raised their goal tally to three.
Once again,
Jefferies made a wise choice when he opted to replace McLaren with
teenage striker Kris Boyd.(above)
And Dargo was the
provider with a short ball that released Boyd to slot home after 84
minutes.
Referee: B Orr
Attendance: 2,285
Kilmarnock:
Gordon Marshall, Peter Canero, Greg Shields, Frederic Dindeleux, Chris
Innes, Alan Mahood, Ally Mitchell (Shaun Dillon, 45), Andy McLaren (Kris
Boyd, 75), Michel Ngonge, Craig Dargo, Stephen Murray (Tommy Johnson,
45)
Subs: Colin Meldrum, Kris Boyd, Gary McDonald, Tommy
Johnson, Shaun Dillon
