Kevin Cuthbert has been slated by some St. Johnstone fans over recent months but I don't understand why. He was in top form today, denying both Stewart Kean and John Sutton on several occasions.
After the awful result against Dundee, Charlie Adam replaced Alan Reid, with the rest of the starting lineup remaining the same. The rather tall Kevin James was in the St. Johnstone side with a rather strange head bandage.
Useless referee Craig Thomson showed just how useless he was going to be after thirty seconds when he booked Kevin McGowne for a foul on Paul Sheerin. A foul? Yes. A booking? No, especially compared to what the St. Johnstone players got up to, in particular Simon Mensing.
The visitors started the better of the two sides, with Jason Scotland firing just over early on. However, St. Mirren soon got on top and had several million chances (well, it seemed like that). Charlie Adam had a few efforts from long range, whilst Kean went down under a challenge from Mensing inside the box. Admittedly this wasn't a stonewall penalty and I didn't have too many problems with it not being given, but they've been given in the past.
Midway through the first half, Saints should have been in front. Simon Lappin's cross was volleyed by Kean, but Cuthbert produced a great save. However, he could do nothing about the rebound unless the Saints player on the end of it was kind enough to fire it straight at him. With this being the festive season, John Sutton sadly did just that. Oops!
Just after this, Mensing was finally booked after putting Adam into the St. Mirren dugout. Saints boss Gus MacPherson was clearly not pleased with the referee's performance and a few minutes later told him as much. What was said is anyone's guess, although I assume it wasn't: "Mr Referee, you're performance is slightly below par this afternoon."
Sutton had another good chance less than ten minutes before the break. He beat james (taking a break from wrestling with folk when he tried to head) to a long ball, but Cuthbert pulled off a decent save. We then saw some skill from Kirk Broadfoot when his long range shot (and it was a shot, ot a cross, honest) was tipped over for a corner by Cuthbert.
If Sutton's miss was bad, Steven Milne's at the start of the second half was worse. Scotland squared it to him, and even Brian McGinty could have scored, but instead Milne popped it high and wide. Fool, and a let off for the Real Saints. The next notable chance also came from the Fake Saints, Smith doing well to turn Scotland's shot along the ground away for a corner.
There then began Stewart Kean's struggle with the goal. First he fired in a shot that Cuthbert saved, then he shot over after Adam's shot deflected into his path. He then headed Lappin's corner off the post, before finally shooting straight at Cuthbert after Sutton set him up. MacPherson realised it wasn't Kean's day, and replaced him with Billy Mehmet.
And then nothing happened. Neither side did anything other than have a few corners and some possession. It was all a bit strange.
Still, Saints managed to get a point and only had one chopped off their lead, so not too bad. However, the performance of the referee was a joke. How james gets away with having his arms and elbows flying when he goes for a ball is beyond me, and the stuff Mensing got away with was just a joke.
On to Queen of the South next week. That's Queen of the South searching for their first win under Ian McCall. Oh dear...
After the awful result against Dundee, Charlie Adam replaced Alan Reid, with the rest of the starting lineup remaining the same. The rather tall Kevin James was in the St. Johnstone side with a rather strange head bandage.
Useless referee Craig Thomson showed just how useless he was going to be after thirty seconds when he booked Kevin McGowne for a foul on Paul Sheerin. A foul? Yes. A booking? No, especially compared to what the St. Johnstone players got up to, in particular Simon Mensing.
The visitors started the better of the two sides, with Jason Scotland firing just over early on. However, St. Mirren soon got on top and had several million chances (well, it seemed like that). Charlie Adam had a few efforts from long range, whilst Kean went down under a challenge from Mensing inside the box. Admittedly this wasn't a stonewall penalty and I didn't have too many problems with it not being given, but they've been given in the past.
Midway through the first half, Saints should have been in front. Simon Lappin's cross was volleyed by Kean, but Cuthbert produced a great save. However, he could do nothing about the rebound unless the Saints player on the end of it was kind enough to fire it straight at him. With this being the festive season, John Sutton sadly did just that. Oops!
Just after this, Mensing was finally booked after putting Adam into the St. Mirren dugout. Saints boss Gus MacPherson was clearly not pleased with the referee's performance and a few minutes later told him as much. What was said is anyone's guess, although I assume it wasn't: "Mr Referee, you're performance is slightly below par this afternoon."
Sutton had another good chance less than ten minutes before the break. He beat james (taking a break from wrestling with folk when he tried to head) to a long ball, but Cuthbert pulled off a decent save. We then saw some skill from Kirk Broadfoot when his long range shot (and it was a shot, ot a cross, honest) was tipped over for a corner by Cuthbert.
If Sutton's miss was bad, Steven Milne's at the start of the second half was worse. Scotland squared it to him, and even Brian McGinty could have scored, but instead Milne popped it high and wide. Fool, and a let off for the Real Saints. The next notable chance also came from the Fake Saints, Smith doing well to turn Scotland's shot along the ground away for a corner.
There then began Stewart Kean's struggle with the goal. First he fired in a shot that Cuthbert saved, then he shot over after Adam's shot deflected into his path. He then headed Lappin's corner off the post, before finally shooting straight at Cuthbert after Sutton set him up. MacPherson realised it wasn't Kean's day, and replaced him with Billy Mehmet.
And then nothing happened. Neither side did anything other than have a few corners and some possession. It was all a bit strange.
Still, Saints managed to get a point and only had one chopped off their lead, so not too bad. However, the performance of the referee was a joke. How james gets away with having his arms and elbows flying when he goes for a ball is beyond me, and the stuff Mensing got away with was just a joke.
On to Queen of the South next week. That's Queen of the South searching for their first win under Ian McCall. Oh dear...