Source: FOOTYMAD
Diamond Is Taylor's Best Friend
Thank goodness for Zander Diamond is all that Cleveland Taylor could think after the game against Aberdeen Cleveland Taylor feared he had cost St Johnstone a valuable three points against Aberdeen yesterday. The former Brentford striker passed up a great opportunity to open the scoring in the first half but he somehow managed to turn Peter MacDonald's cross onto the post from close range. But Taylor breathed a huge sigh of relief when Dons defender Zander Diamond headed the ball into his own net in the closing stages of the game to give the Perth side a 1-0 win, their first following four straight defeats in the SPL and five in all competitions. He said: "I was gutted when I missed that chance as I have been ringing home all week telling everyone I was going to score a goal for my missus' dad as he keeps ripping me. We have a child on the way and I'm getting all the old jokes about being able to score off the pitch but not on it! The main thing was that we won as it is a massive three points for us. Chances like that don't come along that often for wingers so I'm gutted I didn't take it." The turning point of the game came three minutes after the restart when Northern Ireland international Rory McArdle was shown a straight red for a dangerous lunge on Taylor. The St Johnstone man said: "Obviously it is the referee who makes the decision and he deemed it to be a red card. Personally I didn't think he needed to make the challenge as I wasn't really going anywhere. He dived in and it was a bit naughty as it was a bit high. It was always going to be a tough game with challenges like that, because there was so much at stake for both teams." The Dons have only taken four points from the last possible 36 and now sit only a point above bottom side Hamilton. However, striker Scott Vernon believes there is enough character in the squad to turn their season around and has backed Diamond to bounce back from the own goal, which condemned the Dons to their fifth consecutive SPL defeat. He said: "Zander felt down in the dumps afterwards and felt that it was his fault we lost. When you are down near the bottom of the league that is just the type of thing that goes against you. Zander will pick himself up and I'm sure he will be brilliant for us next week. We need to stick together. You feel everyone is against you when you are near the bottom and we probably over-exaggerate that fact as it brings us closer together. There is a good team spirit here and we need to start taking that onto the pitch and getting results." Editor Ger Harley (ger@scottishfitba net)Admin Team (admin@scottishfitba net)This is Scottish-Fitba.Net
