First Team
Saints 4-0 Hamilton Accies
10th November 2018
Saturday 10th November
Saints made it five wins on the bounce with a convincing 4-0 victory against Hamilton Accies at McDiarmid Park this afternoon.
A lively opening half saw Murray Davidson score to make it 1-0, then a Drey Wright cross took a deflection off Ziggy Gordon to make it 2-0.
Into the second half, Saints pilled the pressure on Hamilton, with Matthew Kennedy getting in on the action slotting past Woods for the third. Wotherspoon then wrapped up the 3 points when he tapped in at the back post.
Today’s win moves Saints up to fourth in the Ladbrokes Premiership with 23 points. Next up for Saints is a home game against Kilmarnock in a fortnight.
MATCH REPORT
St Johnstone come into the game on a 4 game winning run and clean sheet streak. After last week’s 1-0 win at Hibernian Saints made two changes to the starting line-up. Out went Tristan Nydam and Ross Callachan to be replaced by Murray Davidson and David Wotherspoon.
Before the match got underway there was a short remembrance tribute on the pitch, including a minute’s silence, as both sides remembered those no longer with us as part of Remembrance Weekend.
Hamilton got the game underway.
A break away from Watt and Kennedy lead to a chance for Watt on the 18-yard line, his shot however rose high and wide. Straight after a well worked cross from Tanser was flicked on by Kennedy, which then fell to Wright who drilled a shot narrowly wide of the goal. Saints dominating the opening 5 minutes.
A free kick on the corner line was taken by Wotherspoon, his cross was nearly nodded on by Craig as he fell to the ground, with shouts of a penalty ringing around the ground. Watt manages to connect with the ball, but his effort narrowly goes past the post. A solid opening 10 minutes for Saints.
A dry spell of possession for both teams, however Drey Wright displayed a sublime piece of skill as he nutmegged his opponent and broke down the by line before delivering a powerful cross which was palmed away by Gary Woods. However, it only went as far Davidson who tapped the ball into the net. Saints lead after dominating the first 20 minutes. 1-0 Saints.
Another chance fell to Drey Wright, who collected the ball down the right-hand side and it looked like he crossed the ball however, the ball took a deflection off Ziggy Gordon, which left Hamilton’s goalkeeper completely wrong footed, as the ball floated past him and into the net for Saints second of the afternoon.
A Hamilton break away from a Saints corner lead to a two-on-one however, Saints defended well with Tanser clearing the ball up to Tony Watt. The Saints striker then went on a driving run down the left hand before crossing however, he couldn’t pick out a Saints player in the box. Watt though very quickly regained possession and this time his cross picked out Davidson who was looking for his second, however his effort was straight at Gary Woods. Saints dominating up till the interval.
Saints kicked off the second half and returned to dominating the game. Another opportunity fell to Drey Wright as he drove down the right-hand side however, his shot went over the bar.
A lovely through ball from Tony Watt led to Matty Kennedy going one-on-one with Woods and the attacker was able to roll the ball under Woods to extend Saints advantage. 3-0 to Saints before the hour mark, with Saints looking to get their goal difference up. It was a great performance from the Perth men so far.
A free kick knocked short to Wotherspoon from around 30 yards was driven at the goal and Woods had to be smart to palm it away. Kennedy then picked up the ball and smashed it against the cross bar from 25 yards. Saints well and truly dominating the game.
A terrible back pass from Tshiembe let Kane run on to the ball and the substitute unselfishly squared the ball initially to Kennedy, however he missed the ball and Wotherspoon was luckily there to convert at the back post. A fantastic game so far from a Saints point of view.
The first real chance for Hamilton came 5 minutes before the end as Sam Kelly had a shot at Clark’s goal however, his effort was deflected behind for a corner. The corner was delivered into the box picking out Tshiembe but his rising header looped over the crossbar.
The end of the match brought a roar of cheer from the Saints support as they saw their team dominate against a very disappointing Hamilton Accies side.
Saints: Clark, Foster, Kerr, Shaughnessy, Kerr, Wright, Wotherspoon, Davidson, Craig (Nydam 80), Kennedy (McMillan 77), Watt (Kane 63)
Unused Substitutes: Hurst (GK), Scougall, Gordon, Callachan
Booked: Kennedy
Scorers: Davidson (20), Wright (36), Kennedy (54), Wotherspoon (74)
Hamilton Accies: Woods, McGowan, Gordon, Tshiembe, Kilgallon, Imrie, Bingham, Bloomfield (Brustad 72), MacKinnon, Martin (McMann 61), Boyd (Kelly 45)
Unused Substitutes: Marsden (GK), Taiwo, Penny, Smith
Booked: McGowan, Martin, MacKinnon, Imrie.
Referee: Steven McLean
Attendance: 2,175
Match Report by Ruairidh Smith
Picture: Murray Davidson has shot at goal with an overhead kick