It was a ‘never-say-die’ goal from a ‘never-say-die’ player that secured St Johnstone a precious win over Dundee United, according to Perth boss Callum Davidson.
Stevie May closing down Tangerines’ keeper, Mark Birighitti to make a sliding tackle that ended up in the net was the decisive moment in a Tannadice contest that had just been brought back to 1-1 90 seconds earlier.
A draw would have been acceptable in that the gap to Saints and United was already seven points.
But a win, which gives Davidson’s men a cushion of 10 to the bottom of the Premiership and nine to the play-off spot, is a highly significant moment in their season.
And the McDiarmid Park manager made no attempt to downplay it.
“It was a huge game for us,” said Davidson.
“It was so important for both teams today.
“We are fortunate that we have a guy like Stevie May in the team who never gives up.
“He has a never-say-die attitude and he manages straight away to score the second goal at a really crucial time.
“I am delighted with how he got it and I thought we just deserved it.
“Stevie he was superb all game and chased everything down, worked really hard.”
The winning goal had an element of the freakish about it but Saints’ first half opener, also finished off by May, was an example of expertly crafted pass and move football.
“I thought it was good composure from Melker (Hallberg),” said Davidson.
“He waited and picked out the cross.
“It was a good goal and I actually thought we played some good stuff before that.
“But for me it is all about the three points in the end.”
Phillips and MacPherson excel again
Not for the first time in recent weeks, the midfield duo of Dan Phillips and Cammy MacPherson exerted the sort of control that was lacking around the turn of the year.
“I have said when Dan and Cammy were fit they would have a lot of potential,” said Davidson.
“Cammy just shaded Dan today but it is good to have them fighting in the middle of the park.
“They have those combative skills, get about the pitch, hustle and press.
“They are also very good on the ball so as long as we keep them fit the better it will be for St Johnstone.”
Huge win for Saints. 10 points clear of United. Crazy winner for Stevie May and they were dropping too deep at points but the centre-backs won header after header. That's as animated Callum Davidson has been for a long time at full-time in front of 1,500 Saints fans.
— Eric Nicolson (@C_ENicolson) February 18, 2023
Davidson isn’t setting his sights on a top six push just yet.
“I will always look down!” he said
“We have had two tough away games at Motherwell and Dundee United and taken six points. I am really pleased with that.
“Every game is a challenge but as a group we are ready for that challenge.
“They want to do well, they want to succeed. It’s a great mind-set to have.
“We had a few poor results over December/January and we could have let our heads go down but they definitely didn’t do that.
“Hopefully we can look up but I think it will take a few more wins before we can do that.”
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