ST JOHNSTONE showed the grit required to mount a serious challenge for promotion as they saw off Clyde 1-0 at McDiarmid Park to make it four months and 14 games since they last tasted defeat, ironically against Saturday's opponents.
The Perth side had to dig deep to see off Morton at home a fortnight ago by the same scoreline and after the disappointment of losing a last-gasp equaliser away at Airdrie last Saturday, the visit of an in-form Bully Wee side, who had their own unbea
ten run of six matches to protect, had the hallmarks of another tough test of manager Derek McInnes' side's promotion credentials.
Striker Steven Milne grabbed the winner when Derek Holmes nodded on a cross from debutant Paul Hanlon and the ball flew off Milne's knee and past a bemused David Hutton. Gavin Swankie and Paul Sheerin had chances to double the lead and as nerves began to engulf McDiarmid Park, Kevin Rutkiewicz cleared an Alan Lithgow header off the line and veteran Gary McSwegan forced a great save from Alan Main with a header that looked like it was hitting the net.
McSwegan was red-carded in injury time when referee David Somers judged that he had used an elbow in a clash with Liam Craig.
St Johnstone now sit eight points clear and McInnes said: "I am proud of that victory and of our record. The players should be pleased as well and I have to mention Paul Hanlon as he had as good a debut as you will see after his loan move from Hibs."
The Perth manager, in charge for his 50th game, was pleased to have the points on board and said: "The three points have opened up a wee gap and I know some of the teams below us may pick up six points from their games in hand but I would much rather be in our position."
Clyde manager John Brown said: "We did not do enough to take anything from the game especially in the first half. St Johnstone's power in attack may prove decisive in this league."
Ross County manager Derek Adams' decision to stick with striker Sean Higgins despite a well publicised dispute between the pair after last week's defeat at Morton was rewarded when Higgins scored both goals in the Dingwall men's 2-0 win at Partick Thistle. Higgins lobbed the ball over Jonny Tuffey midway through the first half to open the scoring and after the home side's Marc Twaddle received two yellow cards and one red, the striker sealed victory with seven minutes remaining when he swapped passes with substitute David Winters before slotting home.
It was County's third win this season over Partick and Adams said: "To take nine points out of nine from Partick is a great achievement and it was a tremendous display that made it happen."
Adams was pleased that he made the right call with Higgins saying: "It was a big decision to play Sean, but it was the correct one and he took his goals well. He will remain with us until his contract runs out or we decide to let him leave."
Firhill manager Ian McCall said: "I am really disappointed as every time we have the chance to attack the top of the table we fall down. We were poor and only two players can take pass marks from that game."
Queen of the South's poor run continued as they went down 1-0 at home to Dundee and to make matters worse it was a Dumfries boy, Colin McMenamin, who scored the winner. The Dens Park men scored on the half-hour when Chris Posniak's initial shot was blocked by Bryn Halliwell only for McMenamin to gratefully knock home his first goal of the season.
Palmerston manager Gordon Chisholm was not a happy man afterwards and said: "That was the worst we have played since I have been here. We were outfought and out passed and generally Dundee looked sharper. I will be making changes for next week as the effort was just not good enough."
Dark Blues counterpart Jocky Scott was delighted to get back to winning ways saying: "I thought we played really well in the first half but had not killed the game off. We got the points and we are beginning to put things together nicely."
Bottom-placed Airdrie United won for the first time in the league for over two months when they defeated visitors Morton 1-0. The Greenock side slip back to second bottom in the table as they pressed the self-destruct button right on half-time, with defender Chris Smith under-hitting a passback that forced goalkeeper Kevin Cuthbert to haul down Simon Lynch to concede a penalty.
Cuthbert was red-carded and substitute keeper Colin Stewart, who came on for Smith, was beaten by Lynch's spot kick and the Diamonds took all three points, although they never forced a second goal that would have made it a comfortable second half.
Airdrie manager Kenny Black said: "We needed to win this game and we did, although we did not make it easy for ourselves. The comfort of a second goal never came but we did enough to earn a massive result."
Morton manager David Irons said, "The penalty and sending off changed the game."
The eagerly awaited clash between second placed Dunfermline and third placed Livingston was called off with the clubs quickly re-arranging the fixture for tomorrow night with a 7.45pm kick off.
The full article contains 931 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
