A false dawn or the beginning of a great escape?
Time will tell whether St Johnstone’s Premiership season will turn on Saturday’s comeback victory over Motherwell.
But, in the here and now, the importance of the result needs no dressing up.
Saints would have been winless in 10 league matches had Bozo Mikulic not scored a late winner.
And if Motherwell had held on to their one-goal lead, the gap to second bottom would also have opened up to double figures.
Courier Sport explores four talking points from a dramatic afternoon at McDiarmid Park.
Adam Webb
Win, lose or draw, St Johnstone’s majority shareholder watching his club in the flesh, with his father at his side, was something to cherish.
Adam Webb has fought and beaten cancer.
There couldn’t have been many Saturday afternoons that will have lifted his spirits during that half-year battle but his passion for Saints hasn’t dimmed while he’s had far bigger things to worry about than a game of football.
To be able to travel to Scotland and fully reengage with the hands-on running of the club would no doubt have been one of the brightest lights shining at the end of his personal tunnel, driving him forward to full health.
Even before Webb’s worrying diagnosis, as owner, he had only seen Saints scrape a win over Highland League side, Brechin City, and then lose to Aberdeen in the Premiership opener.
There hadn’t been any ‘so this is what it’s all about’ sporting moments.
There have now.
The exhilarating nature of the win over Motherwell and the communion of pitch and stand that helped bring it about has shown Webb exactly why he bought St Johnstone from Geoff Brown.
Even in a season as testing as this one, football can give you the highest of highs.
And so can this club.
An encouraging sign
Set-pieces, particularly end of game set-pieces, often tell you which of the two teams has the greater, innate desire to win.
They did when Motherwell took three points away from Perth at the beginning of the season, and they did on this occasion.
It was Saints players who were alive in the penalty box from the second phase of a corner, leading to an equaliser.
Then it was Saints players again who were alive to another Graham Carey dead ball two minutes later for the winner.
There was a force of will at play (aided by astute in-game tactical tweaks and substitutions from the touchline, it must be noted).
A less imposing team, physically, made sure raw determination delivered more influence than pounds and ounces, or feet and inches.
For the first time in goodness knows how long, Saints looked like a side that simply would not accept defeat and then would not even accept a draw.
Those are qualities that were required earlier in the campaign and were all too often absent.
But we can’t turn back time.
This group, still to be supplemented by several new faces, let’s not forget, possesses them now, it would appear.
This fact alone will the McDiarmid side a shot at staying up.
Four set-piece goals in a row have been scored by Saints.
That tells a story.
A very positive one.
Cheerio?
St Johnstone really needed Jack Sanders.
With Bozo Mikulic the only other out-and-out centre-back to call upon, the Englishman pulling out of the squad on the morning of the game was a potentially concussive blow for Saints’ hopes of staying up.
It meant Mikulic had to play with a winger and a central midfielder alongside him in the back three, with the latter making a mistake just seconds into the match that cost Saints a penalty.
It also meant the team was deprived of its best backline protector.
If someone says they are too ill to play a few hours before kick-off, the manager has no option other than to take him at his word. As do we.
Football moves on quickly and the late twist ensured the absence of Sanders wasn’t the biggest post-match talking point.
Looking forward to the last week and a bit of the transfer window, however, it’s highly likely that Saints fans won’t see Sanders play for their team again.
A move to Gillingham is in the post and you would imagine a deal gets done over the next few days.
You would also imagine that Benji Kimpioka will be freeing up another peg in the dressing room.
It doesn’t take a master of reading between the lines on this one.
And the fact that, while chasing the game, the head coach sent three other forwards on to the pitch and left Kimpioka on the bench spoke volumes.
There’s a strong chance Saints will bank six-figure fees for both players.
That feels like shrewd business.
Two more centre-backs are already needed and another attacker will probably be added to Valakari’s shopping list.
Back of the queue
Even if Kimpioka stays, he’s now got four forwards ahead of him for game-time.
Makenzie Kirk is the main man and was unlucky not to add to his goals tally on a couple of occasions.
Nicky Clark might not have the energy and mobility of old but his penalty box alertness hasn’t diminished and that was a big part of the equaliser.
Taylor Steven showed why four successive St Johnstone managers have talked about him as a first team prospect.
He has a precious knack of effecting games.
He also picks up the pace of a match very quickly when he is introduced as a substitute, which isn’t as common as you might think.
Things happen when he’s on the pitch.
When he scored, Steven showcased the sort of time slows down composure a seasoned pro like Clark would be proud of.
And, lastly but by no means least, Adama Sidibeh is impacting games again.
He’s consistently making better decisions.
That was a high tariff assist the Gambian produced for Bozo Mikulic. It wasn’t an easy header.
Will he get the goal his overall contribution now merits?
It feels increasingly likely.
And I wouldn’t be shocked if the London bus theory kicks in after that.
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