After keeping seven clean sheets in a row at McDiarmid Park, St Johnstone keeper Peter Enckelman probably deserved to be beaten by a spectacular overhead kick, an unstoppable 30-yarder or a missile of a diving header when the club record run was eventually brought to an end.
Chasing a winnerIf only by the law of averages, Enckelman believes a run of goals is on the horizon.
He pointed out, “The positive for us is that we’ve created chances and been on top against two in-form teams in the SPL.
“We just can’t seem to get the ball the right side of the post just now and opposition keepers are making a lot of good saves.
“At some stage the goals will start coming because we can’t keep creating this amount of chances and not score.
“We’ve got a huge game next weekend against Brechin in the Scottish Cup, and if we beat them we’re one match away from the final.
“Our focus will be on that match straight away and we’ll take confidence from how we’ve performed in our last two matches.”
On the evidence of Hibs’ first-half display it does the standard of the SPL no great credit that the Edinburgh men came into the match on the back of five straight league wins. Indeed, it seemed stringing five straight passes together was beyond them.
They raised their game after falling behind early in the second period, though, and had a couple of close shaves of their own.
One of them came just before the hour mark when Enckelman didn’t get a good connection on an upfield clearance.
He was out of his box to his left and by the time he had scurried back between the posts a Ricardo Vaz Te first time shot from over 40 yards out had narrowly missed the target.
Enckelman acknowledged, “Obviously, it was a relief but it was just one of those things that happens. You get bobbles on our pitch after the winter we’ve had. I got told by the boys afterwards that I’ve actually got the pitch to thank because they said the shot took another bobble on its way which took it wide.”
Manager Derek McInnes singled Murray Davidson out as the “stand-out performer” and Enckelman believes the Perth midfielder is destined for bigger things.
He said, “He was outstanding. But he’s been playing like that for us in a lot of games lately.
“He’s still young and if he keeps doing what he’s doing he will move forward from here.”
McInnes found himself regurgitating a lot of the phrases he used after the Aberdeen draw.
He reflected, “It was very harsh on us because I felt we won every individual battle on the pitch and dominated from the first minute to the last. We know we should have scored more than one, though. Ultimately, it’s a sore one to take.
“That was our third game in six days, which is a high physical demand, but we were still chasing a winner at the end. I said before that I wanted us going into the Brechin game in good form and I believe we are.”
Skipper Jody Morris missed out on Saturday but McInnes revealed he will be fit for the trip to Glebe Park.
Easter Road boss Colin Calderwood said, “I know that St Johnstone feel there was a handball in the lead up to our goal but I wasn’t in a position to see it. We got a break for our goal, but so did they for their goal.”
The Hibs strike which got past the Finnish international was far removed from any of the above.
Their 80th minute equaliser came from a mishit David Wotherspoon shot from close range which only went in off the underside of the bar, and had been preceded by what Saints were adamant was a Darryl Duffy handball.
Enckelman admitted the goal left a bitter taste in the mouth for him and his Perth team-mates. Not because the proud run of shut-outs was over, but because it had cost them what would have been two crucialand deservedpoints in the battle to climb into the top half of the SPL table before the mid season split.
He said, “You’re never going to keep clean sheets forever so we were bound to lose one at some point. It’s just a shame that it happened the way it did.
“I thought it was a blatant handball from where I was standing.
“I’m sure the referee would have given it if he’d seen it and the same goes for the assistant referee. If there were bodies in the way there’s not much they could have done about it.
“It’s just something that happens in football. Referees can’t bend light to see things differently.
“We got a lucky break to go ahead and we thought we could see the game out from there with the way we’ve been defending recently.
“So you do feel a bit aggrieved when an important decision goes against you. Having said that, we probably had enough chances to have the game won before their equaliser.”
The lucky break for Saints that Enckelman referred to came just after half-time when they were gifted the lead. Richie Towell was under no great pressure to deal with a Peter MacDonald cross but somehow contrived to slice the ball into his own net.
Unfortunately for Saints an own goal looks like as good a bet as one from their own players at the moment.
There weren’t as many clear-cut chances as on Wednesday night against Aberdeen, but Saturday’s match was another story of St Johnstone dominance. Guile and finesse were lacking where they were needed mostin and around the opposition box.
Collin Samuel was the main culprit. On 37 minutes a Liam Craig shot broke off a Hibs defender at the feet of the Trinidad and Tobago international just eight yards from goal.
When composure was called for none was shown, and Samuel blasted the ball virtually straight at Hibs goalkeeper Mark Brown.
In the second half MacDonald, Craig and substitute Andy Jackson (twice) had near misses.