Assured win sees Saints pull away

Published on Saturday 21 March 2009 19:02

St Johnstone 3 (Samuel 13, 36; Sheerin 90) Airdrie United 0

ST JOHNSTONE cranked up the pressure on chasing duo Partick Thistle and Dundee ahead of their game today by extending the lead at the head of Division One. Collin Samuel's two first-half goals and Paul Sheerin's last-minute tap-in gave the Perth men a deserved victory as they dismissed any questions over their mental strength by producing their most assured performance for some time.

With the burden of their long unbeaten run now gone after last weekend's loss, they played with much more freedom to move four points clear with a game in hand. That said, they survived an early scare when their defence vanished to allow Simon Lynch space on the edge of the area but received a large slice of fortune when the striker tamely flicked the ball into Alan Main's hands.

But that gave the hosts a timely jolt and they went on to exert their dominance over Kenny Black's team. Samuel settled any nerves on 13 minutes by gathering Darren Smith's mistake before lashing an unstoppable shot past Aidrie keeper Stephen Robertson.

Robertson, who started his career at McDiarmid Park, kept the scoreline respectable by denying the Trinidad international twice more before the half-hour. First the home forward latched onto Kevin Moon's through ball but hit his shot off the keeper's chest. Then, on 28 minutes, Samuel saw another shot saved after he raced clear of Airdrie's back line.

Robertson could not hold back the tide, though, and was well beaten on 36 minutes after a wonderful flowing move nullified the visitors' rearguard. Richie Byrne played a ball into Steven Milne, who in turn laid off for Samuel, who sent a shot beyond the exposed goalkeeper.

With the destination of the points beyond doubt as the players emerged for the second half, St Johnstone toyed with the visitors before Sheerin tapped in with the final kick of the ball to seal the win.