The drought has ended.
After 12 league games and after 306 days, St Johnstone finally won at home in the Premiership.
The Perth side beat Ross County 3-0, with two red cards for the Staggies easing the passage to three points.
Courier Sport picks out four talking points from Saturday’s game as attention turns to a trip to Dens Park.
Mature performance
Saints have won 3-0 before this season.
There are parallels between the victory over Kilmarnock under the summer sun and this victory under an autumnal one – chiefly, that their opponents had a man sent off (in County’s case, two men by the end).
It should also be said that on both occasions Saints were in front prior to the red cards and were the dominant team.
They would have won on Saturday had it remained 11 v 11.
If you look at the two matches, this was a big improvement in terms of game-management.
In the main, Saints controlled the contest – happy to move from side to side and make County work hard against the ball and ready to use their extra numbers when an opportunity presented itself to turn safe possession into attacking thrust.
Drey Wright had his best game of the season, Matt Smith maintained his high standards and Jason Holt was my man of the match.
They weren’t the only ones who caught the eye but that experienced trio enabled Saints to take care of the ball more effectively than at Rugby Park – and in any other game this season.
It was certainly a stark contrast to what happened in Dingwall when Saints could barely string a few passes together.
Six losses and a draw followed their last league victory, of course.
We need to see more of this – much more – before a corner has truly been turned.
But this was a mature, all-round performance. It was a good start.
Kimpioka contract
Getting out of the Home Office maze with Simo Valakari and Bozo Mikulic cleared to coach and play is the immediate off-field priority at McDiarmid.
But extending Benji Kimpioka’s contract – or at least, trying their very best to – isn’t far behind.
The Swede has been Saints’ most important player of the season by some distance.
And he’s into the last year of his current deal.
Yes, there’s a bit of League Cup padding to his nine-goal tally but Kimpioka’s game has improved vastly over the last few months.
Even if he’s missing chances, he’s getting himself into true number nine goal-scoring positions in the penalty box, as evidenced by a shot from a Lewis Neilson cut-back that shaved the crossbar, sandwiched by two back-post predator’s goals.
After a nomadic few seasons, Kimpioka should realise that putting down roots for a couple of years is a sensible career approach for a young forward who has time on his side.
The last thing Saints need is this drifting into January and the possibility of the new manager being faced with a ‘keep or sell’ mid-season dilemma.
Andy Kirk
When Craig Levein was sacked, the coach he brought to the club took on a lot of his duties.
It will have been a challenging few weeks for a variety of reasons.
For the four games Kirk has been the interim boss, you could write off two (Celtic and Rangers) as realistically winnable.
And Saints have taken four points out of six from the other two – a significant achievement.
Kirk hasn’t put a foot wrong in his pre and post-match media duties and his role in bridging the gap between one management era and another should be acknowledged.
Dens next
The last time a St Johnstone team played at Dens Park, they had the chance to leapfrog their opponents and move into the top six of the Premiership table.
After making a fast start to the February match, with Matt Smith putting them in front, Saints wilted in the second half and it proved to be a crossroads fixture for all the wrong reasons.
Levein was never angrier after a game in his time at McDiarmid and later mentioned that he thought subs, Connor Smith and Max Kucheriavyi, were “a bit in the huff” at not starting.
Top six was never seriously spoken of again.
Opportunity to go above Dundee knocks again.
And, with St Mirren facing Rangers the day after, there’s a realistic shot at getting into sixth as well.
The Saints players held on to a bit of healthy fury at the manner in which they chucked away two points against County, channelling it into an impressive display against the same opponents.
Plenty of them weren’t part of the team which let their standards drop to an unacceptable level at Dens eight months ago.
But it should serve as a warning that a big Saints travelling support has demands of their team when they face their local rivals.
It may turn out to be the case that Dundee have rediscovered last season’s mojo and will show they are a stronger side in a couple of key areas.
But win, lose, or draw, St Johnstone need to make sure they earn their fans’ applause as they make their way to the corner tunnel this time around.
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