An unstoppable force met a moveable object as St Johnstone’s attack destroyed Kilmarnock’s defence in this one-sided game.
This was a battering, doing, hammering, thumping take your pick.
You should certainly not be fooled by the scoreline as this was a stroll in the sunshine for the Perth men on a beautiful autumnal afternoon in Perth.
Strike duo Stevie May and Nigel Hasselbaink tormented the Killie backline throughout and the real surprise from this match was that Saints didn’t score six or seven.
They had the chances to do so as a dreadful defence crumbled before them.
May and Hasselbaink, with some of their teammates joining in at times, regularly waltzed their way towards goal unchallenged or even without being tracked by an opponent.
Hasselbaink got the ball rolling on 24 minutes when he raced on to a through pass from David Wotherspoon, did well to stay on his feet then then sent a low shot just inside the far post.
The visitors then gift-wrapped the next goal for May on 31 minutes. A pass forward by Chris Millar was allowed to run through to the Scotland Under-21 man by the day-dreaming Mark O’Hara.
With the offside trap well and truly beaten by the alert May, he had time and space in which to pick his spot.
The hosts had to wait until 10 minutes into the second half to make it three.
A run from Millar was stopped illegally by Jeroen Tesselaar inside the box and May stepped up to find the net with ease.
By then, the Rugby Park side were down to 10 men thanks to the dismissal of Jackson Irvine. An unlucky first yellow for alleged simulation Irvine merely appeared to fall over just before the break was followed by another booking for a challenge on Millar early in the second period.
Kilmarnock got a consolation goal when Sean Clohessy’s cross from the right eluded home goalkeeper Alan Mannus and dipped under his bar.
They then lost another man, Darren Barr, for two bookings that were picked up in the space of a few minutes.
However, the red cards did not influence the outcome as Saints were always well in command.
Summing up yet another impressive win for Tommy Wright’s men, midfielder Gary McDonald said: “Yeah, brilliant, it was another great three points for us.
“We started a wee bit sluggishly for the first 15 minutes but after that we played well.
“We stretched them a bit and played to our strengths by getting the ball to the boys up front.
“They ran in behind Killie and both Stevie and Nigel took their goals really well.”
McDonald was understandably delighted with Saints’ display but, as a self-confessed Killie fan, he also felt some sympathy for his struggling former club.
The away fans loudly voiced their frustration at both manager Alan Johnston and owner Michael Johnston.
“I am a Kilmarnock supporter and it’s not nice to see them down there,” admitted McDonald. “But games like this one are all about us winning and it’s a great three points for us.”
St Johnstone boss Tommy Wright felt his men were worthy winners and insisted the double dismissal had no impact on the match.
He said: “After about 10 minutes, we were comfortable and switched the ball from side to side. Even if they had 11 men on the park, I felt we deserved to win the game.”