For St Johnstone, Saturday’s game was packed with positives while there was nothing but negatives for opponents Dundee – yes, this was certainly Saints v Sinners.
Tommy Wright’s side had lost their last three home games prior to the Tayside derby but after St Johnstone established their two-goal lead, they never looked remotely in danger of suffering a fourth.
There were star performers all over the pitch for Saints including my man of the match Paul Paton, Graham Cummins, who looked back to his best, as well as Blair Alston who took his goal well and was impressive throughout.
If there was a slight criticism to be made it would be that Saints did not translate their overall superiority into more goals – Dundee couldn’t have complained if the scoreline had been doubled.
No-one at St Johnstone will admit that their top six spot is assured just yet but there would be few willing to wager against them mathematically cementing their position sooner rather than later.
As for the dreadful Dark Blues . . . where to start?
They were woeful from front to back and while players can have an off day, the 1,426 fans who travelled through from the City of Discovery would have found the lack of fight in a derby simply unacceptable.
Boss Paul Hartley looked to have found a successful blueprint after the Rangers and Motherwell wins but after back-to-back defeats, he must now be tempted to rip it up and start again with Dundee’s top six dreams rapidly slipping away.
