MacDonald repays faith with deserved late winner

12 Jan 2011

Derek McInnes has made many inspired decisions during his nascent managerial career with St Johnstone.

Handing Peter MacDonald a six-month contract on Hogmanay may turn out to be the best of them all.

Continually hampered by injury during a 10-year stint at McDiarmid Park, MacDonald was given a new deal by his manager because, regardless of his physical condition, he retains a natural ability to score goals. When it mattered most, the striker repaid that faith with a deserved late winner.

After dominating the second half, the introduction of MacDonald with 12 minutes remaining was McInnes’ last throw of the dice. He had watched Collin Samuel and Steve May display criminal wastefulness in front of goal and prayed that one would fall to MacDonald.

When Murray Davidson’s header somehow evaded Ismael Bouzid in 86 minutes, MacDonald didn’t need a second invitation as he steered a precise finish in off a post. It sets up a fifth-round home tie for St Johnstone against either Falkirk or Partick Thistle.

“Peter’s had a hard time through injury but he had worked so hard over the last 18 months and it’s great to see him get a reward,” said McInnes. “When fit, he’s shown he is capable of scoring goals but I don’t think he’ll have enjoyed one as much as that for a while.

“I always felt there was a goal in us. We passed up a few chances, but I always thought Peter would be liable to get on the end of one. Thankfully, that happened. It’s a great win for us against a strong Hearts side. Is the cup wide open after the Old Firm drew each other? It’s wrong to say otherwise.”

After Biffy Clyro paired Rangers and Celtic together in Tuesday’s draw, Hearts’ sights had been firmly set on Hampden. The main pre-match chat around Tynecastle centred on which bookmaker was offering the best odds on maroon ribbons adorning the trophy come May. For the Hearts supporters, St Johnstone, it seemed, were an irrelevance.

With David Templeton rested, Arvydas Novikovas started. The 20-year-old Lithuanian looks too young to be out after dark, but the boy can play. All of Hearts’ early forays came via his darting runs down the left and one 60-yard sprint ended with a fierce shot that flashed across the face of Peter Enckelman’s goal.

In Kevin Kyle, Hearts have one of the most watchable players in Scottish football. Within the first 20 minutes he had fallen out with referee Iain Brines and almost fired Hearts ahead with an instinctive volley. Kyle remained ubiquitous. If he wasn’t fouling, he was being fouled, yet he posed a constant threat – glancing a header wide midway through the first half.

Kyle’s strike partner, Stephen Elliott, was finding life tougher, with a series of poor touches and wrong choices blemishing his early contributions. When he finally shook off the rustiness, his vicious cross proved just too high for the lurking Kyle.

With St Johnstone making absolutely no progress in the final third, it was far from vintage stuff but after an insipid first-half performance, St Johnstone were jolted into life. Dave Mackay’s header crept narrowly wide before Samuel was sent clear by a wonderful Chris Millar dink. Alas, his first touch was horrific and MacDonald saved easily.

By then, the injured Kyle had been replaced by David Obua and Hearts needed fresh inspiration. Templeton was summoned from the bench and made an immediate impact. Jinking free of two tackles, he helped release Calum Elliot, whose low cross was somehow flicked over the bar by Obua. “It looked harder to miss,” said Jim Jefferies, the Hearts manager.

Samuel was put out of his misery as 18-year-old Stevie May emerged from the dug-out in a blaze of curls. More Brian May than Eddie May with his flowing locks, the striker hit a low shot inches wide with his first touch and also failed to test MacDonald when clean through.

It wouldn’t matter as St Johnstone’s MacDonald had the final say, although Enckelman also played his part with a fine diving save from Elliot deep into the injury time.

“We’ve no complaints,” said Jefferies. “St Johnstone deserved to win, but I find it difficult to be too hard on the players. They have been outstanding but it just didn’t happen for us.”

Taken from the Herald