Killie FC beat St Johnstone 1-0

Dec 11 2009 by Lizzie Struthers, Kilmarnock Standard

HAVING been victims of a ‘mugging’ against Hearts seven days earlier, it was Killie’s opponents on this occasion who were left feeling hard done by.

But what a valuable three points it was for Killie on the road – their first away win of the season.

Once again it was captain Kevin Kyle who proved the matchwinner with a first-half goal, enough to seal the win and make up for the disappointment of his missed penalty against Hearts.

It could all have been so different though, had Filipe Morais not squandered a seventh minute chance to put his side ahead, but he blasted wide of the goal to Killie’s relief.

Soon after, Killie had their first sight of goal but ex-Rugby Park keeper Graeme Smith came off his line to deny Mark Burchill, the former Celtic striker making his first start for the club.

Within a couple of minutes, the action was back in the Killie box, with Mark Brown beating away a shot from Dave MacKay.

Liam Craig then squandered another opportunity for the home side when he volleyed a Morais cross, but he failed to trouble Brown from 15 yards.

On 15 minutes, the Ayrshire side made Saints pay for their early misses, with Kyle finding himself clear in front of goal to shoot through the Saints defence after good work in the box by Burchill.

Brown was by far the busier goalkeeper however and he kept his goal intact with another good save from a long-range effort from Jody Morris.

They should have squared the game just before the break when Danny Grainger crossed from the left, but just at the vital moment Kenny Deuchar lost his footing and failed to connect.

Killie were a bit fortunate to go in at the interval with their noses in front, and after the restart the home side again looked the team most likely to score.

Danger man Morias showed good skill by cutting in from the right before unleashing a shot towards goal, but the alert Brown pulled off another good stop when he dived to turn the ball round for a corner.

Killie almost grabbed a second following a quick break from their own half with Grainger getting in the way of a Burchill shot after Craig Bryson had done the spadework.

On the hour mark Saints came close to equalising when Grainger’s cross deflected off Simon Ford, but the ball went across the face of Brown’s goal before spinning wide.

With the final whistle approaching, Kevin Rutkiewicz missed another good opportunity to bring the sides level when he headed wide of Brown’s goal.

A much-needed win for Killie, with the confidence gained from the result hopefully acting as a springboard to better things in the games ahead.

St Johnstone: Smith, MacKay, Grainger, Rutkiewicz, McCaffrey, Morais, Morris, Davidson (MacDonald), Craig (Moon), Deuchar (Johansson), Samuel. Subs (not used) Main, Gartland, Hemsley, May.

Kilmarnock: Brown, Old (O’Leary), Wright, Ford, Hay, Hamill, Fowler, Bryson, Taouil (Skelton), Kyle, Burchill (Russell). Subs (not used) Bell, Flannigan, Kelly, Owens.