St Johnstone

Five talking points as St Johnstone defeat Kilmarnock 4-3. Strong first-half from the Saints. Last season’s Championship winners made their return to the top flight against Kilmarnock, and in the opening period, they looked comfortable. The patterns of play, looked decent defensively (goal aside) and created enough chances to go into the interval ahead, however, Kiltie’s strike in the tail end of the half meant that despite all of the Saints’ positive play, the sides went in level. A sensational second period. The second-half was quite brilliant. The Saints hit the front less than two minutes into it, when Diabate headed home from a corner, however, Hugill equalised just over a minute later. On 53 minutes, Holt found his own net after the ball came off him following a save from Steward. With just over twenty minutes remaining, a dangerous ball into the box came off a Kilmarnock defender and found the bottom corner. And with ten minutes to go, substitute Fotheringham, who looked sharp during his cameo off the bench, found the corner after receiving the ball from Fowler, to give St Johnstone three points on opening weekend. Saints show character. Last campaign, Simo Valakari’s men were solid on home soil, winning eleven, drawing six and only losing one and based on the performance produced against Kilmarnock, it is clear to see how. After conceding two cheap goals in quick succession, it would have been easy for the heads to drop, however, they didn’t let the goals derail them and kept pushing, and got their reward, scoring two in just over ten minutes to secure the three points, which shows that St Johnstone can compete at this level and will not give up, which is a huge testament to manager Simo Valakari, who has clearly got the buy in from the players, which is helped by the fact that ten of the starting XI were at the club last season. Dire defensive display. For the first St Johnstone goal, Tshibola lost control of the ball, then no one picked up Fowler in the penalty area, who converted into the bottom corner. The second goal came from a corner which was met by Diabate, who didn’t even have to jump to meet the ball in the air. And the third goal came from a free kick, which found its way in off of Schjønning-Larsen. Although Kilmarnock were decent going forward, defensively they were very poor, especially from set pieces, which was unexpected due to their League Cup campaign, where they didn’t concede a single goal. On the other hand, they only scored two goals in four games, which they managed to better in 20 minutes of action, which is a slight positive that Neil McCann can take from the game. Alarming signs for Kilmarnock from a defensive perspective with the champions Celtic on the horizon. Fantastic Fowler There were several standouts for St Johnstone, including Gullan, who created five chances (the most in the match) and picked up two assists, Fotheringham, who came off the bench to score the winner and Josh Fowler, who led the line terrifically for St Johnstone. The former Queen’s Park striker took his only chance of the match, slotting the ball past the Kilmarnock goalkeeper, set up the winner and looked comfortable on the ball. The Saints will be hoping from more of that from their number nine for the remainder of the campaign.

These two sides met four times in the 2024/25 campaign. The first two meetings were won by the Saints. The first of which came at Rugby Park, where St Johnstone ran out 3-0 winners, courtesy of a brace from Sidibeh and a late penalty from Kimpioka. The second came in Perth, where St Johnstone won 1-0, with Kirk scoring the only goal of the game. The other two meetings were both won by Kilmarnock. The first of which came in Ayrshire, where Killie ran out 3-1 winners, courtesy of goals from Polworth, Murray and Wales. Carey scored a consolation in stoppage time for the Saints. The second of which, and the final meeting between these two sides in the 24/25 campaign ended 2-0 to Kilmarnock in Perth. Watson and Armstrong got the goals. Both sides had underwhelming League Cup group stage campaigns. Sunday’s hosts St Johnstone started off their campaign with a 2-0 win away at Linlithgow Rose, then followed that result up with a 3-0 win against Championship side Morton. However, defeat against Inverness Caledonian Thistle, followed up by a 1-1 draw against East Fife, in a game where they took the lead in the 90th minute and conceded in the 95th, then lost on penalties, meant they were knocked out of the competition. Kilmarnock kicked off their campaign with a 0-0 draw against Raith Rovers, however, did pick up the extra point. In their second match of the group stage, Neil McCann’s side showed resilience to beat Elgin City 1-0. Killie were reduced to ten in the first-half when Brandon was shown red, but Hugill’s stoppage time winner prevented back-to-back penalty shootouts. Their third match ended in a 1-0 win against Hamilton Accies, courtesy of a strike from Kiltie on the hour mark. Kilmarnock rounded off their group stage campaign with yet another poor showing, losing to League One outfit Peterhead on penalties after another goalless draw. Despite a disappointing group campaign, where they only netted twice, Killie finished top of their group on nine points, and will face Ayrshire rivals Ayr United in the next round. Both sides have been active in the transfer market. The Saints have brought in some familiar faces, including Ruari Paton and Toby Steward, who were part of the St Johnstone squad that won the Championship last season. In continuation, the Perth side have brought in two players who had brilliant campaigns last season in the Scottish Championship – Chalmers from Partick Thistle and Matty Todd from Dunfermline Athletic. Kilmarnock have brought in a mix of youth and experience. Mark O’Hara signed in late June, returning to the club where it all started for him back in 2012. Tshibola also made his return to Rugby Park following the World Cup, where he was part of the DR Congo squad. Killie have also brought in young Rangers midfielder Bailey Rice, who will be looking to emulate the success that Findlay Curtis had during his loan spell at Rugby Park, during the second-half of last season, and young Welsh forward Ieuan Owen, who scored two huge goals which helped Barry Town secure the club’s first top-flight silverware in over two decades.