Stevie May hit the half-century mark for St Johnstone goals in the perfect way at the weekend – a late winner against his old club Aberdeen that silenced the supporters who had been jeering him.
There have been plenty of memorable strikes among the 50 and Courier Sport picks out five of the most important ones.
The first for Tommy Wright
If Wright hadn’t taken over from Steve Lomas in the summer of 2013, maybe May wouldn’t even have been at the club, never mind in the team, for the Europa League clash with Rosenborg.
That he was and that he scored the crucial goal that saw Saints into the next round, by cashing in on a mix-up between centre-back and keeper as he chased a pass over the top, set the ball rolling for a 27-goal season for May and a Scottish Cup-winning one for the club.
One of many against Dundee United
There has to be a goal past Rado Cierzniak in there.
May scored five times against the Tangerines in that 2013/14 season.
There was a McDiarmid Park hat-trick among those and I’ve gone for the middle goal of the three when he rolled John Souttar and finished from a tight angle.
It summed up the fear factor May had created against United individually and Saints had as a team.
That aura helped the Perth side win the clash against United that mattered most on May 17 at Celtic Park, even though May didn’t score in the Scottish Cup triumph.
The glass ceiling breaker
St Johnstone didn’t get past semi-finals.
Until May scored the winner against Aberdeen at Ibrox, that is.
Both his goals that rainy April afternoon could, and really should, go into this top five but it’s the second which changed the way in which the club viewed itself.
Saints had broken new ground.
Dave Mackay found May with a diagonal ball, he won the header, played a wall pass with Steven MacLean and toe-poked a finish past Jamie Langfield.
It was a goal that encapsulated most of the attributes of a centre-forward at the peak of his powers.
The penalty
There are 11 penalties among the 50 but the one against FC Luzern at the start of the 2014/15 season is probably the most cherished by Saints fans.
You can always rely on May to put his laces through the ball after he has placed it on the spot.
And on another big McDiarmid Park European night he smashed a shot high into the net for the goal that set-up a shoot-out (when he also found the net in similar fashion) against the classy Swiss side.
It wasn’t his last goal in that first spell with Saints before being sold to Sheffield Wednesday (May scored a consolation against Spartak Trnava) but it was his last big one.
The 50th
None of May’s seven goals in his first season back with Saints proved to have lasting significance (the equaliser against Rangers was probably the highlight).
There is a case to put his winner against St Mirren last season in there because Saints had out-played Hibs and Aberdeen in the preceding fixtures without scoring and it was starting to look like it would be an inglorious hat-trick until May scored a near-post poacher’s goal for a crucial 1-0 victory.
Stevie May:
Double Scottish Cup winner 🏆🏆
League Cup winner 🏆
50 goals for Saints ⚽️In case you didn't know 😏#SJFC pic.twitter.com/f8KHWlR3h4
— St. Johnstone FC (@StJohnstone) September 20, 2021
But it isn’t just the fact that Saturday’s goal at Pittodrie is freshest in the mind that makes it the best of the Stevie May St Johnstone Part Two chapter.
It’s because it has earned Saints a first league win of the season, has ended a long barren run and is a timely reminder that the dynamic and decisive May of old is still in there.
Oh, and it was a very good goal and a very good celebration.
