St Johnstone have got their season up and running with a once-in-a-generation victory at Celtic Park.
A Dave Mackay second-half goal ended the Perth men’s 13-year wait for a victory in the east end of Glasgow.
This was a result built on an early Peter Enckelman penalty save and seen through by steadfast defending and no small amount of attacking enterprise.
Before kick-off Saints were goal-less and winless in the SPL, while after the game manager Derek McInnes lavished praise on his players.
He said: “The biggest thing for me was the experience we had in our team.
“Usually if you’re going to win here you have to score in the last minute, so it says a lot for the boys that they held out for half an hour.
“Obviously the penalty save was pivotal but we had a belief that we could get a result. We are lucky to have Peter Enckelman he has been a different class for us.”
“We’ll enjoy this win because you leave here with your tail between your legs plenty of times.
“I think we had a more experienced team than Celtic and it is not often you can say that when you play against the Old Firm.”‘Immature performance’Celtic manager Neil Lennon said: “I’m fed up missing chances and fed up missing penalties. That was an immature performance.
“I am angry, really angry. We threw it away. We missed clear-cut chances, were complacent and wasteful in front of goal.
“The longer the game goes on and it’s 0-0, you give the opposition encouragement. We hit the post a couple of times but we missed simple chances.”
He added: “We might not have deserved the result but we got it and if you don’t take your chance that’s what happened.”
McInnes made three changes to the team that lost to Dunfermline eight days ago, with Callum Davidson, Alan Maybury and Francisco Sandaza coming in for Kevin Moon, Marcus Haber and Carl Finnigan.
It was a 4-5-1 formation and Mackay was pushed into wide midfield and Maybury slotted in at right-back.
For Celtic, Kenyan Victor Wanyama made his debut in central defence.
It was nearly a calamitous start to the match for Saints as with less than two minutes on the clock Enckelman brought down Anthony Stokes in the box.
The Finn made amends however by producing a fine save low to his right from Kris Commons’ spot-kick.
Enckelman said: “It would have been hard to come back had we lost a goal then but after I saved the penalty the boys were brilliant.
“It was a magnificent performance. We frustrated them and created chances ourselves. It must have just been one of those days when things went for us.”
The McDiarmid Park side made a good job of keeping Celtic at bay for some time after but Lennon’s men carved their way through the away back line with a slick one-two between Ki Sung Yueng and Shaun Maloney on 15 minutes.
The winger hit the byeline and cut the ball back to the edge of the six-yard box, where Commons, who had timed his run perfectly, directed his sliding shot just past the post.
Saints forced two corners on 25 minutes, from the second of which Murray Davidson should have done better with a free header beyond the back post.
They were growing into the game by this point and just after the half-hour mark they produced their best move of the match.
The play was quickly switched from right to left and Liam Craig found Sandaza unmarked in the box with a sharp first-time pass. The Spaniard was flagged offside however, as he was moments later when Craig sent another teasing cross over.
This was by far Saints’ most encouraging spell of the half, and on 38 minutes a Daniel Majstorovic slip-up resulted in the ball falling to Sandaza inside the six-yard box. It was too acute an angle for a shot though, and his attempted pass to Cillian Sheridan fell short.
Saints book-ended the first period with close escapes as on 41 minutes a Commons 20-yard free-kick smacked off Enckelman’s left-hand post.
The Perth keeper still had work to do before the break, and in the dying seconds dived at the feet of Stokes as he attempted to round him for a simple finish.Saints weather stormJust 10 minutes after the restart Saints were within centimetres of taking a shock lead.
Maybury floated a perfectly weighted cross from the right to the back post where Craig cushioned the ball across goal.
It looked like Sheridan would have a tap-in at the other post but agonisingly he was a fraction of a second away from connecting.
Saints got their reward for taking the game to their opponents on 60 minutes when a cross from the left found its way to Mackay, who drove a low deflected shot past Fraser Forster.
The celebration in front of the small band of away fans was what you would expect from a team scoring their first goal of the season.
Sean Higgins made his first appearance for the Perth club when he replaced Sheridan on 63 minutes.
Paddy McCourt had also been introduced by this point and Saints did well to snuff out one of his trademark mazy runs.
The mercurial Northern Irishman hit the post on 81 minutes and Frazer Wright was in the right place to block James Forrest’s rebound attempt.
The Saints goal was now leading a charmed life and Enckelman produced a brilliant point-blank save to keep out a Stokes header.
However, they weathered the storm and saw out the last few minutes in relative comfort to seal the victory.