Kilmarnock and St Johnstone Share Four Goals at Rugby Park
Kilmarnock drew 2-2 with St Johnstone at Rugby Park, and the point moved them off the bottom of the Scottish Premiership, the top tier of Scottish football.
It was a match where one side did most of the attacking and still had to settle for a share of the points. Kilmarnock had 22 goal attempts, their highest total in a league game all season. A goal attempt is any shot, header or effort aimed at goal, whether or not it finds the net. They also completed 542 passes, their highest figure in a single Premiership game this season.
St Johnstone spent 80 minutes with ten men on the pitch, after a player was sent off. They still scored twice, and that is the part that stung most at home. Kilmarnock manager Neil McCann was blunt about it. "The most galling thing is they've scored two goals with 10 men," he said. "That's a sore one."
The result came at the end of a rough run. Kilmarnock had lost their two previous matches, and they have won only two of their last 11 games in all competitions. Before this draw, they had also picked up just two league wins all season. A point against a side playing a man short was not the performance the home fans had hoped for.
The reaction at the final whistle was not warm. Sections of the crowd booed and pointed angrily at the players as they left the pitch. McCann acknowledged the need for backing from the stands. "We need the support more than ever," he said.
There is a longer story here too. Kilmarnock have not won at Celtic Park since October 2012, and they have been on the wrong end of heavy scorelines against the champions in recent seasons. Celtic, who lead the league, scored five goals against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park back in August. That is the backdrop to a club looking for a result that changes the mood, not just a point that changes the table.
For a manager, the numbers tell two stories at once. The chances were there, and the passing was tidy, but the goals did not come easily. Moving off the bottom is a small step. Staying there would have made the next few weeks much harder, and McCann knows it.
