Given that hitting the back of the net with any sort of regularity was St Johnstone’s biggest problem of 2021/22 and they only managed 24 in the whole of their Premiership campaign, you might think that embarking on a goal of the season search won’t throw up many gems.
You’d think wrong though.
Quantity wasn’t Saints’ thing but there were times when quality certainly was.
Courier Sport has broken the look-back on the pick of their goals into three categories – best individual one, best team effort and most iconic.
Best individual goal
Michael O’Halloran’s opener against Rangers was a thing of beauty but nothing comes close to Callum Hendry’s injury-time volley against Motherwell in a game Saints really had to win.
It really should have been the Premiership’s goal of the season.
Jacob Butterfield did what was required by taking a nice first touch and getting the weight right on his diagonal pass to ensure Hendry didn’t need to break stride.
However, this was 95% finish and 5% assist.
@Callum_Hendry Still can't get over this 😍💙 pic.twitter.com/1KG8Pc1c3w
— TylerKelly🇺🇦 (@TylerKellyTTV) March 20, 2022
We’re not quite in Marco van Basten Euro ’88 territory but there aren’t many strikers who have the technique to let a ball drop over their shoulder and connect perfectly with their ‘wrong’ foot.
To think Stephen O’Donnell had the temerity to throw a dirty look at his goalkeeper after it dipped over him!
Even Thibaut Courtois on Champions league final form wouldn’t have got a hand to it.
Not only was it the best St Johnstone goal of the season, it will be in the conversation for finest goal McDiarmid Park has ever seen.
Best team goal
Chris Kane’s near post finish in Klagenfurt to put Saints ahead against LASK deserves a mention in this category.
The link-up play between O’Halloran and Glenn Middleton before the latter played a perfect ball for Kane to attack was very impressive.
It proved to be the last big high for the double-winning side before it was broken up a couple of weeks later.
Mention should also be made of Ali Crawford’s first minute goal against Hearts in February.
The build-up involving Tom Sang, Middleton and Melker Hallberg was everything Saints had been lacking for months and the timing of the run and the quality of the shot were top class as well.
But it’s another Crawford strike that is my number one – the second in the League Cup quarter-final victory at Dens Park.
Ali Crawford scored his first goal for Saints the last time we faced @DundeeFC ⚽️
Crunching Callum Booth tackle for the assist too ✅#SJFC
— St. Johnstone FC (@StJohnstone) September 28, 2021
Saints expertly played their way out of trouble at the right side of their own box and then quickly transitioned from defence to attack down the opposite flank.
From there, David Wotherspoon set Callum Booth on his way (oh, how Perth fans long to read that phrase again next season) but the wing-back still had to win a 50-50 tackle with Cammy Kerr to be in a position to cross.
With three men in red and white stripes as options in the penalty box and another on the 18-yard line, Booth got his head up and picked out Crawford, whose first-time strike was a much higher tariff than he made it look.
Most iconic goal
There have been some incredibly important penalties scored by St Johnstone players down the years.
Mark Treanor’s against Airdrie in McDiarmid Park’s greatest game is the first that springs to mind (the one at Firhill in the same season had a lot riding on it too) and there will never be a more glorious, and higher quality, collective shoot-out effort than at Ibrox last season.
But putting a provincial Scottish team into the lead against one of THE most famous club sides in Europe is the definition of a moment in time that can never be taken away from the scorer or those who celebrated it.
WATCH: Jason Kerr's penalty puts St Johnstone 1-0 up 👇 pic.twitter.com/riD4Si0QWE
— BBC Sport Scotland (@BBCSportScot) August 5, 2021
That lead didn’t last long and Saints lost the return leg after drawing in Turkey but Galatasaray 0-1 St Johnstone is a scoreline that saw the Perth club’s name shine brighter than it ever had before.
Conversation