Preview St Johnstone
Thursday, 30th Oct 2008Dunfermline failed to beat St Johnstone on both visits to East End Park last season but in the context of this season Saturday could be a very important fixture.
Two weeks after their last league match, Dunfermline face second placed St Johnstone on Saturday and the home side would dearly love to leapfrog the Saints by taking all three points. St Johnstone however will be travelling down from Perth intent on revenge after the 3-0 trouncing they suffered in August at the hands of Jim McIntyre`s side. The Fifers have a good record over St Johnstone principally because of the performances at East End Park.
| 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 | 63 | 19 | 16 | 28 | 88 | 95 |
| 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) | 28 | 11 | 6 | 11 | 36 | 37 |
| Second Division (since 1975) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 |
| TOTALS | 128 | 53 | 28 | 47 | 211 | 184 |
Dunfermline failed to beat St Johnstone on both visits to East End Park last season.
|
Milestones v St Johnstone (Home) | |||
|
Last League Victory |
27/10/01 |
2-1 |
SPL |
|
Last League Defeat |
19/01/08 |
Div 1 | |
|
Best League Victory |
21/08/57 |
7-1 |
Div 2* |
|
Worst League Defeat |
21/10/50 |
2-7 |
Div 2* |
|
*Pre league reconstruction | |||
St Johnstone took full advantage of Dunfermline`s match at Airdrie being postponed last Saturday, their 3-1 win over Ian McCall`s Partick moved them into second place. In the context of the season this could be a very important fixture, one that has bus loads of travelling supporters coming south and causing Dunfermline Chairman John Yorkston to make a plea to the home fans to come along and give their full support.
| Dunfermline | St Johnstone |
| Current League Position | |
| 3 | 2 |
| Form last six league matches | |
| LDWDWW | WDWWWW |
| League Points | |
| 18 | 20 |
| Goal Difference | |
| +7 | +3 |
| Home/Away Record | |
| P5, W3, D1, L1 | P5, W2, D2, L1 |
Graham Bayne hit the third goal of the August win
St Johnstone are unbeaten since 30th August meaning they have taken 16 points out of the last 18; much better than the four they took from the first fifteen. Dunfermline got a set back when they lost at home to Livingston but that`s their only home defeat of this First Division season.
| Recent Form | ||||||
| Dunfermline Home | St Johnstone Away | |||||
| Partick Thistle | W | 1-0 | Partick Thistle | W | 3-1 | |
| St Mirren | W | 2-0 | Livingston | W | 1-0 | |
| Ross County | W | 3-1 | Airdrie United | W | 3-1 | |
| Livingston | L | 1-2 | Dundee | W | 2-0 | |
| Alloa Athletic | W | 1-0 | Queen of the South | D |
2-2 | |
Last Time Out
DUNFERMLINE (v Dundee United): Paul Gallacher; Calum Woods, Greg Shields, Scott Wilson (c), Austin McCann; Kevin Harper (Steven Bell 88), Nick Phinn, Stephen Glass, Alex Burke (Simon Wiles 81); Andy Kirk (Iain Williamson 82), Graham Bayne.
SUBS: Scott Thomson, Callum Reidford
ST JOHNSTONE (v Partick Thistle): Alan Main; Gary Irvine, Liam Craig, Chris Millar, Kevin Rutkiewicz, Stuart McCaffrey, Gavin Swankie (Kevin Moon 82), Martin Hardie, Derek Holmes (Peter MacDonald 73), Steven Milne, Paul Sheerin.
SUBS: Steven Anderson, Collin Samuel, Lee Robinson (GK)
Referee will be Calum Murray. Maybe that`s a good omen, his last visit to East End Park was for the Co-operative Insurance Cup tie against St Mirren that Dunfermline won 2-0.
C`mon Ye Pars!
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