St Johnstone 1 Dunfermline 1
Saturday, 29th Mar 2008Pars and Saints meet for the fifth time this season
Jim McIntyre had Stephen Glass back after his one match suspension but a muscle strain to Mark Burchill and a bruised foot to Nick Phinn meant that the player/manager came in to start only his fourth game of the season. Greg Shields also returned at right back to face a St Johnstone side that made four changes from the one that lost at home in midweek to Clyde.
Derek McInnes`s side was without Greg Cameron because of an knee injury, while David Weatherston, Barry Wilson and Kevin Moon dropped to the bench. Into the Saints starting eleven came Goran Stanic, Peter MacDonald, Andy Jackson and Jody Morris after the birth of his son.
Just a little over two thousand fans braved the elements to see what would have been, at the start of the season, viewed as a battle between two favourites for the title. The season has not panned out as planned for either team however and consequently few were prepared to make the trip for what turned to be another predictably drab encounter.
With the sky opening shortly before kick-off, leaving huge parts of the wings inhospitable, it was inevitable that play was squeezed into the centre of the park and all the poorer for it. Jackson and Milne created half-chances for the home side and a corner kick opened the door for midweek hero Harper for the Pars, but all three efforts failed to cause any real concern for the goalkeepers.
It was not until twenty minutes into the game that the first clear-cut opportunity was created and even then it stemmed more from luck than design. Paul Sheerin attempted a shot from the edge of the box but scuffed it so badly that upon leaving his foot it transformed from a shot into an inch-perfect pass. Milne collected, somehow finding himself unmarked just eight yards from the Pars goal but to the disbelief of all parties he managed to send his shot wide.
Pars did their best to make the Saints rue the missed opportunity with first Shields firing a long range drive safely into Main`s arms. The Pars` best effort followed, with a similar effort from Harper forcing Main into a fingertip save.
The Pars were restricted to such hopeful efforts while St Johnstone looked more dangerous and it was only a matter of time before the home team took the lead. From a free kick on the right wing Paul Sheerin played a terrific ball to the back post where Allan McMANUS was on hand to direct it into the net from close range.
The Pars were not at the races in the first half and had Peter MacDonald not sent a header just wide of Gallacher`s post with five minutes remaining, the game might have been killed off.
Opening up the play by using the wings more in the second half, the Pars were a much better prospect but only after narrowly avoiding disaster in the opening minutes of the half.
A mistake from Simmons allowed Milne through on goal only for Gallacher to come to the rescue with a fantastic save to sent his effort wide of the post. Gallacher was quick off his line minutes later to deny MacDonald at the edge of the box but had to rely on Scott Thomson to clear when Sheerin latched onto the rebound with the keeper still in no man`s land.
While the Pars improved, Saints continued to see more goalmouth activity in their favour and Rutkiewicz and McManus both saw headers wide of the target.
With the first clear goalscoring opportunity the Pars created, they equalised. A terrific tackle by Darren Young at the edge of his own box saw the ball break to Shields, who swept the ball clear up the pitch to be flicked on by McIntyre.
Stevie CRAWFORD ran the ball into the box with McManus at his heels and held off the defender`s attention long enough to coolly slot the ball past Main from a tight angle.
The Pars survived a last minute scare courtesy of St Johnstone`s substitutes when Wilson blocked a shot from Moon and had to watch as Robson received the rebound. His shot went narrowly wide however and the Pars escaped with a share of the spoils courtesy of their ninth one-each scoreline in the league this season.
ST JOHNSTONE: Alan Main; Gary Irvine, Kevin Rutkiewicz, Allan McManus, Goran Stanic (Kevin Moon 73); Steven Milne, Liam Craig, Jody Morris, Paul Sheerin: Andy Jackson (Barry Wilson 83), Peter MacDonald (David Weatherston, 88).
SUBS NOT USED: Steven Anderson, Kevin Cuthbert (GK)
SCORERS: McManus (35)
DUNFERMLINE: Paul Gallacher; Greg Shields, Scott Wilson (c), Scott Thomson, Scott Muirhead; Kevin Harper, Darren Young, Stephen Simmons (Alex Burke 63), Stephen Glass; Jim McIntyre, Stevie Crawford.
SUBS NOT USED: Iain Williamson, Scott Morrison Paul Willis, Sean Murdoch (GK)
SCORERS: Crawford (77)
YELLOW CARD: Shields, Wilson
REFEREE: Mike McCurry
WEATHER:
ATTENDANCE 2372
NEXT MATCH: SFL (away) v Partick Thistle, Saturday 5th April 2008, kick off 3.00pm
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Preview St Johnstone
Wednesday, 26th Mar 2008Since league reconstruction the Pars have only won three of the twelve First Division matches in Perth but St Johnstone haven`t beaten Dunfermline in the league at home since 1995.
Many things have changed since 10th November!
St Johnstone Away Milestones
It is now over 12 years and ten games since St Johnstone last won a league match at home against the Pars. Since the defeat in November 1995, the Athletic have gained four wins, and six draws in Perth. The Saintees did register a 3-2 win in the CIS Insurance Cup in October 2003.
| Milestones - St Johnstone (Away) | |||
|
Last League Victory |
12/01/02 | 1 - 0 | SPL |
|
Last League Defeat |
18/11/95 | 0 - 1 | First Div |
|
Best League Victory |
10/02/62 | 5 - 2 | Div One* |
|
Worst League Defeat |
01/01/35 | 1 - 5 | Div One* |
| * Pre Reconstruction | |||
Michael McGlinchey made his Pars debut at McDiarmid Park
All Time League record v St Johnstone
The Pars had a good Premierleague record in Perth, having won more games than they`ve lost but the First Division has been very different. Since league reconstruction the Pars have only won three of the twelve First Division away matches.
| Pars v St Johnstone: the Full League Record | ||||||
| P | W | D | L | F | A | |
| At East End Park | 65 | 34 | 12 | 19 | 123 | 89 |
| At Muirton Park / McDiarmid Park | 61 | 18 | 15 | 28 | 84 | 94 |
| Division One (up to 1975) | 36 | 14 | 6 | 16 | 72 | 60 |
| Division Two (up to 1975) | 38 | 17 | 7 | 14 | 68 | 64 |
| Premier Division (since 1975) | 23 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 25 | 22 |
| First Division (since 1975) | 26 | 10 | 5 | 11 | 32 | 36 |
| Second Division (since 1975) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 |
| TOTALS | 126 | 52 | 27 | 47 | 207 | 183 |
On Tuesday night Clyde became the first visiting club to win a league match at McDiarmid Park this season, St Johnstone`s first home defeat in any competition since March last year. Since October Dunfermline have only lost one league match on the road and that was against the league leaders, Hamilton.
| St Johnstone | Dunfermline |
| Current League Position | |
| 3 | 5 |
| Form last six SFL matches | |
| WLWWDL | WDDDLW |
| Home / Away Record this season | |
| P15 W8 D6 L1 | P15 W5 D6 L4 |
| League Points | |
| 51 | 41 |
| Goal Difference | |
| +15 | -8 |
Recent Form
The Saints defeat at the hands of Clyde ended a run of four home league wins on the trot. The Pars took a long time to see off Allan Moore`s Stirling in midweek but they did well to hold QOS at home and won at Clyde in February.
| Recent League Form | ||||||
| St Johnstone Home | Dunfermline Away | |||||
| Clyde | L | 1-2 | Stirling Albion | W | 3-2 | |
| Queen of the South | W | 2-1 | Queen of the South | D | 1-1 | |
| Hamilton | W | 2-1 | Clyde | W | 2-1 | |
| Stirling Albion | W | 2-1 | Hamilton | L | 0-3 | |
| Partick Thistle | W | 2-0 | Dundee | D | 0-0 | |
Last Time Out
DUNFERMLINE (v Stirling Albion): Paul Gallacher; Darren Young, Scott Wilson (c), Scott Thomson, Scott Morrison; Kevin Harper, Nick Phinn, Stephen Simmons, Scott Muirhead (Alex Burke 64); Mark Burchill (Jim McIntyre 75), Stevie Crawford.
SUBS NOT USED: Sean Murdoch (GK), Iain Williamson, Paul Willis.
ST JOHNSTONE (v Clyde): Alan Main; Gary Irvine, Kevin Rutkiewicz, Allan McManus, David Weatherston (Steven Anderson 88), Barry Wilson, Kevin Moon, Steven Milne, Liam Craig, Greg Cameron ( Peter MacDonald 50), Paul Sheerin (Martin Hardie 87)
SUBS NOT USED: Adam Monaghan, Kevin Cuthbert (GK)
Only Scott Wilson, Muirhead and Burchill of the side that started on Tuesday night started the last time Dunfermline played St Johnstone in Perth.
Last Time at McDiarmid Park - 10th November 2007
DUNFERMLINE: Sean Murdoch; Calum Woods, Souleymane Bamba, Scott Wilson (c), Danny Murphy; Bobby Ryan (Michael McGlinchey 75), Stephen Simmons, Stephen Glass, Scott Muirhead (Jim Hamilton 85); Tam McManus (Stevie Crawford 37), Mark Burchill
SUBS: Greg Paterson (GK), Jamie Harris.
ST JOHNSTONE: Alan Main; Gary Irvine, Goran Stanic, Derek McInnes, Allan McManus, Steven Anderson, Rocco Quinn, Paul Sheerin, Kenny Deuchar, Andy Jackson (Peter MacDonald 83), Willie McLaren (David Weatherston 52)
SUBS: John Stewart, Andy Lawrie, Kevin Cuthbert (GK)
Stephen Glass scores the one that was disallowed for offside
Referee will be Mike McCurry, only his third league match this season outside the SPL but his second in charge of a Dunfermline match. Mr McCurry was the ref at Firhill on 15th December when he booked Glass and Simmons in a 1-1 draw.
St Johnstone`s website states visiting supporters will be housed in the north end of the Main Stand or, for larger supports, the North Stand and is priced at £17 for adults, £10 for 16-18 year olds, £7 for senior citizens and £6 for Under 16s.
Come on ye Pars!
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