Snow was falling in Perth on Saturday morning but by Saturday night St Johnstone fans would have been singing in the rain.
A game against Kilmarnock that looked as if it would be in doubt as a result of treacherous conditions around the stadium and traffic problems for players on both sides ended up going ahead and producing a result that could turn out to be a key milestone in Saints’ season.
Having suffered three Premiership defeats in a row, Simo Valakari’s side needed to stem the bleeding.
Makenzie Kirk’s superb second half header did just that and they moved up a place into ninth in the table.
Courier Sport picks out four talking points
A first
Before Saturday, St Johnstone had scored penalties, free-kicks, second-ball finishes from corners, an outside the box Graham Carey special, back post and near post side-foot strikes, an own goal and a couple of scruffy goal-line tap-ins.
But they hadn’t scored from a header.
A goal is a goal but this one will perhaps have pleased Simo Valakari above the others he has witnessed.
He’ll have taken satisfaction from the words of Kilmarnock manager, Derek McInnes, as well.
“St Johnstone scored the type of goal we should be scoring and that is so galling.”
That’s twice against Killie, Andre Raymond has set-up a goal with a ball in from the left.
This cross will be a strong contender for Saints assist of the season. The pace, dip and accuracy were all on point.
And Kirk’s run to the centre-back’s blind side – which he started as soon as Raymond got the ball at his feet – and header were classic number-nine play, the type of which has resulted in goals as long as football has been played.
The rise and rise of Sven Sprangler
He won’t get a name-check for the goal in terms of an assist, or even the new statistic of a pre-assist that some are fond of using but Saints’ ball-winning central midfielder set everything in motion.
After Killie tried to start a move down the right with a high pass for Kyle Vassell to chest control, Sprangler was alert to a heavy touch, got his body between Vassell and the ball and quickly moved it on to Jason Holt, who picked out Raymond in space.
Before the Austrian’s return to the starting line-up, Saints were the least likely side to turn the ball over in this fashion.
With every passing week, Craig Levein’s decision to leave Sprangler out of his team becomes harder and harder to fathom.
In fact, I’d go as far as to say that in the Valakari era, the 29-year-old has been Saints’ best player.
He’s been far more than a destroyer and protector of his back four.
Minds are turning to offering new contracts to members of the squad whose deals run out in the summer.
Sprangler is near or at the top of that list.
Robust at the back
Valakari said he’d waited 25 years for a game like Saturday’s against Kilmarnock.
Saints fans haven’t endured quite as long a spell without seeing as effective a defensive display as this but they certainly haven’t become accustomed to it of late.
Bozo Mikulic barely put a foot wrong on his first start.
The Croatian looks like the centre-back supporters hoped he would be – a winner of duels, an organiser and a capable passer.
Jack Sanders was every bit as good, though.
If you’d said before the game a powerful team like Kilmarnock would have 14 corners, you’d have feared the worst.
But they didn’t come close to scoring from any of them.
The mixture of zonal and man-marking tactics worked effectively, with Mikulic and Sanders dominating the six-yard line.
Saints’ first clean sheet of the season (at Rugby Park) was a fortunate one, with Levein admitting as much.
The second (against Ross County) had a lot to do with the opposition being reduced to 10 men early in the contest.
The third, on Saturday, had no caveats or asterisks.
It was pure, old-school defending. No wonder Valakari loved it.
Drey Wright in midfield
One of the most noticeable tactical tweaks made by Valakari is Wright’s positioning when Saints are in possession.
There’s a modern coaching trend of getting at least one full-back involved more centrally and the Finn appears to be on board with it.
Motherwell did a good job of exposing Saints down Wright’s side a couple of weeks ago – and his distribution was uncharacteristically slack – but it didn’t become an issue against Kilmarnock.
There was some excellent in-game management by Valakari around the hour mark, at which point he decided to go with an out-and-out defender, Lewis Neilson, at right-back and move Wright into midfield.
For the next half-hour, the former Hibs man passed the ball better than anyone else on the pitch.
He dictated play and every choice of when to pass, who to pass to, and when to carry the ball forward himself was the right one.
Drey Wright the midfielder is another string to Valakari’s bow.
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