Michael O'Halloran: Top 10 magic moments of a St Johnstone great

Michael O’Halloran has almost certainly played his last game for St Johnstone.

The 32-year-old’s contract is up in the summer and it’s hard to see him earning a new one while on loan with Championship strugglers, Cove Rangers.

As he pointed out after making his Cove debut at Morton on Saturday, O’Halloran has only featured in the Premiership as a substitute this season.

He’s been the definition of a fringe player.

A big chunk of 2021/22 was forgettable too.

But none of that takes away from the fact that O’Halloran will go down as a Saints legend – one of only three players to win three trophies with the Perth club.

Courier Sport picks out a top 10 for a forward who was almost unplayable at his best.

1 – Off the mark: Forfar, February 2014

This was O’Halloran’s first start and it produced a first goal.

The signing from Bolton Wanderers was up and running as a St Johnstone player and it was an early round goal-scoring contribution to what would turn into a drought-ending Scottish Cup triumph for Saints.

Goal of the day: Michael O’Halloran slots home his first Saints goal on his debut in our 4-0 away win at Forfar pic.twitter.com/ouOWzafHWv

— St Johnstone Fans (@StJohnstoneFans) September 16, 2016

2 – Cup-winning starter: Dundee United, May 2014

O’Halloran’s wasn’t a man of the match performance at Celtic Park by any stretch of the imagination but he stuck to his duties diligently, getting Saints up the pitch regularly before being replaced by Lee Croft.

Medal number one was his.

He’d win two more but only got eight minutes off the bench against Hibs at Hampden and was an unused substitute when Saints won the first part of their 2021 double by defeating Livingston.

Michael O’Halloran won the Scottish Cup twice with Saints. Image: SNS.

3 – A deadly double: Motherwell, October 2014

It wasn’t until O’Halloran’s first full season that he became a consistent goalscorer for Saints.

After being caught in possession to gift Motherwell the lead on a Friday night at McDiarmid Park, he scored two superb goals, one of them described as a “thing of beauty” by manager Tommy Wright.

⚽️⏪| Inspired some fantastic goals this weekend, all of today's throwbacks will be great counter-attacking goals!

Motherwell had @StJohnstone under pressure, until a great save from Alan Mannus allowed Michael O'Halloran to burst the length of the pitch to net! 🙌 #TBT pic.twitter.com/FHwfThTgbA

— SPFL (@spfl) February 7, 2019

4 – A long-range winner: St Mirren, December 2014

The Motherwell goals started a run of five in five games, with a winner in Paisley ending that streak.

This one was a collector’s item for O’Halloran – a long-range strike.

5 – Two at Tannadice: Dundee United, February 2015

Stevie May isn’t the only St Johnstone forward with a double to his name at away to United in recent years.

Two crosses from the right and two clinical finishes secured O’Halloran’s team an important away win.

They would end up pipping United for a place in Europe on the last day of the season and he’d hit the 10-goal mark for the campaign.

6 – The career-changer: Rangers, September 2015

This was the game that changed O’Halloran’s life.

He was a force of nature at Ibrox as Saints ruthlessly put Mark Warburton’s (then unbeaten) Rangers to the sword on live terrestrial TV.

O’Halloran’s goal put Saints 3-0 up.

He gave two Rangers centre-halves a head-start when a ball was played over the top but out-sprinted both and slotted the ball past Wes Foderingham with his left foot.

It was no doubt the night Warburton decided to sign O’Halloran, who was sold by Saints for £500,000 a few months later.

If peak O’Halloran is the question, the first few months of the 2015/16 season is the answer.

7 – Back where he belonged: Kilmarnock, August 2017

After an largely unsuccessful and demoralising season-and-a-half at Ibrox, O’Halloran was back where he was happiest for a six-month loan – in the blue and white of St Johnstone.

Well, and the blue and yellow, because the next highlight is an opening day winner away to Killie.

It was the second last minute when O’Halloran weaved his way from the left side of the box to the right before finishing low past Jamie MacDonald.

Another five goals in five games hot streak had begun and O’Halloran got the Premiership player of the month award for August.

Pedro Caixinha on Michael O'Halloran: "He is not the type of player @RangersFC need."

He's scored 4⃣ goals in 3⃣ games for @St_Johnstone_FC pic.twitter.com/tPU4cbsWqO

— BBC Sport Scotland (@BBCSportScot) August 25, 2017

8 – Keeping Saints in the cup: Motherwell, November 2020

The start of O’Halloran’s third spell with Saints was pretty anti-climactic – there were just three goals in 18 months.

And after Callum Davidson took over as manager, you wouldn’t describe him as one of the key men in 2020/21.

But he featured 36 times and certainly came up with some key performances.

Top of that list has to go a man of the match display in a then unfamiliar wing-back role at Fir Park.

He set-up both Saints’ goals in a 2-1 comeback win and if the Motherwell defender he was up against that day, Ricky Lamie, has had a tougher afternoon as a professional footballer since I’d be very surprised.

The victory sent Saints into the Betfred Cup quarter-finals.

2020 | St Johnstone progress to the League Cup quarter finals with a 2-1 win against Motherwell at Fir Park. Saints went a goal down but Michael O'Halloran setup Callum Hendry and then David Wotherspoon in the comeback win. pic.twitter.com/Nr5JK3I7t8

— Saints On This Day (@SaintsOTD) November 28, 2022

9 – The impact sub: Rangers, April 2021

Another O’Halloran contribution to the cup double worthy of note was the one he made as a substitute in the Scottish Cup last eight clash with Rangers.

Even though he came on with just 15 minutes left of normal time, he was arguably Saints’ most influential outfield player that night.

Starters, Stevie May and Guy Melamed hadn’t really made an impression but O’Halloran’s direct running kept Borna Barisic occupied in extra-time and forced the corner that led to perhaps the most famous Saints goal of all-time.

10 – The last hurrah: Rangers, September 2021

O’Halloran’s last goal for St Johnstone was one of his best.

He started the 2021/22 season well – scoring against Galatasaray and starring in tandem with Glenn Middleton in the 1-1 draw with LASK in Klagenfurt.

Then the opening goal at McDiarmid to put Saints in front of his old club was vintage O’Halloran, showcasing the pace, close control and lethal finishing ability that made him one of the stars of Scottish football six years earlier.