Towering Kyle is Jim's beacon of strength

Published on Thursday 14 May 2009 09:43

JIM JEFFERIES praised his Kilmarnock side for demonstrating their battling qualities to earn a crucial 2-1 victory over relegation rivals St Mirren.

The teams were separated by only one place and one point before kick-off at Rugby Park but Kevin Kyle's double gave the hosts a win that pushed them up to eighth in the SPL, four points clear of the Paisley outfit, who now prop up the table.

Kyle netted a first-half header and then swept home from a Willie Gibson cross three minutes after the break, only four days after scoring an equally vital goal in his team's crunch meeting with Falkirk.

Jefferies said: "I said to the players that if they thought this would be like the Falkirk game, where you get on top of them, it would be totally different.

"We were always looking to get about Falkirk but St Mirren are more experienced, resilient and hard to break down, so I knew it was a battle. For ten minutes I didn't think we were up for it as they started the better, I knew they'd feel they could come down here and get a result.

"However, after that we realised we were in a battle, stood and it got the goal, which was so important and gave us a huge lift.

"Kevin Kyle has now scored six goals in three games and he was a constant threat."