Kilmarnock 24 h on

As ever, let’s start off with the good. The ‘Well support was again large in number and there looked to be around 1000 through from Lanarkshire. The fans sang their hearts out for the whole game and the players responded magnificently at the end by coming over to show their appreciation. A special mention must go to Jamie McFadden who ran right up to the stand to shake hands with a young fan who had copied his red stripe haircut. A little bit of PR can go a long way.

Hammell carried off

On the pitch, we were fairly solid in the first half even if we only threatened a couple of times. We restricted Killie to only a few half chances in the opening half and given that we would have taken a draw beforehand, this has to be seen as satisfactory. We have also picked up a reputation for being a dirty side but it was the hosts who put the boot in. We did very well not to respond aggressively and while Kilmarnock were self-destructing we kept our heads focused on the task at hand.

The treatment meted out to Stevie Hammell was nothing short of outrageous. It looked as though he had been targeted for special treatment and he received several illegal and heavy tackles that lead to him being stretchered off the park. Thankfully there seems to be no major damage.

There were no failures in our side but a few people deserve a special mention. Dougie Ramsay capped a great opening to the season with a stunning goal, Dirk Lehmann ran himself into the ground, and the central defensive pairing of Corrigan and Partridge are beginning to look a bit more stable. Stephen Pearson is rampaging down the left hand side at will these days and he is fast becoming our most dangerous player. Derek Adams played as if he had never been away – throwing himself into tackles and putting his foot on the ball in the midfield.

Faddy models the training top

But while there are many positives there is still room for improvement. We were holding our own when it was eleven a-side but we conceded most of the possession and it looked likely that Killie, if anyone, would go onto win the game. When we had the two-man advantage, our nice passing play continually faltered at the edge of the box. We struggled to create clear-cut chances and if it took a twenty-yard wonder to give us the breakthrough.

Having taken the lead, our inexperience began to show. We had no idea whether to continue attacking to try and cement the win or if we should sit back and try to kill the game. This edginess led to Kilmarnock coming back into things and at times we were scrambling at the back. Woods also produced a superb diving save at 0-0 to stop us going behind to nine men.

Jamie McFadden also needs to remember he is just part of a team. He cannot always do everything by himself and he should realise there are times that the simple thing has to be done. However, even on his off days he is still contributing goals and assists and he creates space for the rest of the team by taking two or three men with him wherever he goes.

We were given a potentially tricky start to the season but four points out of nine is a more than acceptable start. We have the chance to consolidate our mid-table position with games against struggling teams in the next two weeks. Dundee United have made a rotten start to the season and Tannadice will be very edgy on Sunday. Hibs also appear to be beatable – four points from the next six will have us going into the international break in an excellent position.