St Johnstone striker Fran Sandaza breathed a big sigh of relief as he rediscovered the path to goal on all-Saints day in Paisley.
It is indicative of the high standard set by the Spaniard since joining the Perth club from Brighton last summer that six games without hitting the back of the net he last scored against Motherwell on January 28 was being viewed as a goal drought.
It was hardly that but, nevertheless, Sandaza was happy to see the ball make it over the line with five minutes left of their comfortable win in the sunshine at St Mirren Park.
That put his tally for all competitions at a commendable 16 and he had a big smile on his face as he reflected on a not very taxing day’s work for Steve Lomas’s men against a Buddies side who played like relegation candidates.
”I was delighted to get three points and the goal because it had been a long time since I scored,” said Sandaza. ”I had a few chances and I was thinking: ‘I must score.’
”I had a couple of opportunities beforehand and missed but because I eventually got one I will not remember them. I was a bit worried about not scoring because I had a very good record throughout the season and I wanted to keep it going.
”I would say my accuracy on the pitch has been the same but sometimes you score easily, sometimes not.
”All week the manager has been talking to me and telling me not to get frustrated because chances would come and I would get a goal soon. Six games scoring is maybe not too bad but it seemed a long time for me.”
Sandaza was asked if his barren spell could perhaps have been caused by fall-out from his move-that-never-was to Rangers.
”People will talk about that but I think if you asked the gaffer about my performances he would have said that he is working away and will score soon.
”It was not that I had a bad attitude or that I was thinking about the transfer that I never got. That didn’t affect me.
”This season overall I have scored 16 goals but the most important thing is the team is winning. The objective of the club is to be in the top six and I think (we) have done it already.
”Now we are looking for fourth and that would make it a really great season for us.”
The arithmetic is 99% there for Saints as regards qualifying for the upper half of the SPL. With three matches to be played before the split, seventh-placed Kilmarnock sit on 34 points nine behind the McDiarmid men, who are 18 goals better off and have a game in hand.
It would, therefore, take a miraculous turnaround to rob them of a top-six place.
So their focus will now turn to a battle with Dundee United for fourth spot, with the Tayside teams sitting together on the 43-point mark.
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That could end with European football coming back to Perth and Sandaza may yet be involved in that should he not get the big move he craves in the summer.
”If I don’t get another offer much better than St Johnstone’s then I will stay,” he said. ”This is a good club that has treated me very well. They took me on when I was in a bad position in my career and I will always be grateful to them.”
As for the other Saints, they were terrible and if they don’t improve markedly they will go crashing out of the Scottish Cup on Wednesday when Hearts visit Paisley for their quarter-final replay.
A shocking pass back to no one from David van Zanten after just two minutes put his teammate Marc McAusland under pressure and when the ball eventually made its way to Lee Croft the McDiarmid midfielder smashed a superb shot past keeper Craig Samson from 25 yards.
Slack passing continued to dog the hosts throughout the game and there was never really any doubt which set of Saints would be marching on with the points.
The visitors had to wait until the 76th minute for their second strike Sandaza, in particular, was guilty of profligacy in front of goal up to that point.
Defender David McCracken bundled the ball over the line after Samson had dropped a Liam Craig corner at his feet.
The Spaniard then wrapped things up with a neat finish after he had been sent clear by a Murray Davidson flick-on.
With yet another fine victory safely tucked away, manager Lomas heaped praise on his players.
”It was always going to be hard with the way St Mirren play,” said Lomas. ”They probe you and create little openings.
”We used a different system against them this time. We played 4-4-2 in previous meetings and St Mirren dominated.
”The game plan (a 4-5-1 formation) was different and all credit to the lads. They put in a super-human effort and won comfortably in the end.
”You need the will to win and the concentration to keep the shape. We worked on the system all week and played it to perfection.
”Lee’s goal gave us a great start but St Mirren probed and played well. We kept our defensive shape in the second half and looked threatening on the counter.
”We had a couple of chances to kill the game and didn’t take them. There were a few scary moments but we survived and got the second. The icing on the cake was Fran’s third and I was delighted for him.”
St Mirren manager Danny Lennon said sorry on behalf of his players for their tepid display and demanded a rapid improvement ahead of the midweek cup encounter.
He said: ”I need to apologise to the fans for that performance, it was very disappointing. Our decision-making was not good enough and we were punished by St Johnstone, who were excellent.
”The boys will be back in on Sunday morning and we will get out it their system. We will sit down as a group and start preparing for Wednesday evening. It is a huge match and I am sure they will bounce back for that one.”
St Mirren sit eight points behind sixth-placed Hearts with three games remaining so the top six seems to have slipped away from them.
Lennon added: ”That looks a long shot now but we shouldn’t necessarily view that as a disappointment. We have still been in there challenging and the players have given me everything.”