It was strange to see us line up without our top scorer but in Murphy we had an able substitute. He ran himself into the ground and despite the close attentions of Duberry he played the lone striker rôle with some success. His pace and trickery kept their defenders busy and his goal was a fitting reward for his efforts.
The Saints are a big team and they use their physical attributes to the full. The ball spent a long time in the air and we were often under pressure during the aerial battles but we did not concede from a header. A touch from Deucher caused a moment’s uncertainty in our area and Milne took his chance to slide the ball under Ruddy. It was a goal that St Johnstone deserved as they had been pressing hard.
The team scores in front of the Well fans
The second half did not have as many incidents as the first and it looked like ending in a stalemate. Brown’s double substitution revived our attack and Jutkiewicz produced the shot which lead to Sutton’s winning goal. There were great scenes at the front of the ‘away’ stand as the players were able to share their triumph with the travelling Motherwell fans.
There were no obvious injuries to the ‘Well players and we have to hope that everyone will be fit for Tuesday’s game. St Mirren were beaten at Ibrox and they’ll have the same recovery time as ourselves. Onwards and upwards!