St Johnstone are up to fifth in the Premiership after a stunning comeback victory over Ross County in the Highlands.
It’s now six games unbeaten in the league and the Perth side have Ali Crawford to thank for their latest three points.
The former Hamilton Accies men came off the bench to score two goals in two minutes and send 398 Saints fans back down the A9 in full festive celebration mode.
Talking points
Conceding a first half goal to a bread and butter (Yan Dhanda) cross and (Jordan White) header was very uncharacteristic for this St Johnstone team.
But the never-say-die spirit has certainly survived the World Cup break intact.
County had a solid, well-organised defensive line that Saints needed to break down and they did that spectacularly.
Both Crawford goals came from finding spaces expertly in the box and in the end it was a thoroughly deserved away win.
Player ratings
Parish 6, Brown 6 (McLennan 6), Gordon 6, Considine 7, Montgomery 8, Wotherspoon 6 (Crawford 9), Carey 6, Clark 7, May 7 (Bair 7), Wright 7, Phillips 8.
Saints’ star man – Ali Crawford
Dan Phillips was in line to get this until supersub Crawford did his thing.
He’s had to survive off first team scraps so far this season but will have given his manager serious food for thought after turning this game around in Saints’ favour.
The volley for the equaliser on 77 minutes was a sweet strike and he showed exactly the sort of instincts you want from an attacking midfielder two minutes later to follow-up a Theo Bair shot that keeper Ross Laidlaw sent back into the danger area.
Crawford also set-up the dramatic equaliser at St Mirren just before the break.
He may yet become a McDiarmid Park fans’ favourite.
Manager under the microscope
All of the four significant changes Davidson made were forced upon him so there was nothing controversial about his starting line-up.
And when one of your substitutes scores two goals then you’re entitled to be quite pleased with yourself.
Crawford had actually been brought on a few minutes before the game-turning red card.
Man in the middle
Sending off Baldwin was an easy decision for Graham Grainger.
Nobody in the ground was expecting a VAR intervention on this one.
Saints had a penalty shout early in the first half when Nicky Clark felt his shirt was being pulled as he tried to shoot.
You could understand why Grainger didn’t point to the spot and it’s the type of call referees will be more and more comfortable leaving to their out-of-stadium helper.
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