Morton 1-2 St Johnstone

Feb 24 2008 Kenny Macdonald At Cappielow

DOUBLE goal hero Stevie Milne reckons he kept his side's flickering promotion hopes alive by pulling off one of the best strikes of his career.

Saints bounced back from an early Peter Weatherson header with Milne stabbing home an equaliser before rifling in a stunning 25-yard effort to secure the points.

And the delighted striker said: "For the equaliser I hit the post with my first attempt and I still don't know how I did it from such close range so I was relieved to slide it in on the rebound."

Team-mate Andy Jackson then set him up for his second just five minutes from the interval and Milne joked: "It's about time he repaid me as I keep teeing them up for him.

"Seriously though I don't think I've scored many better than that one and Andy set me up nicely to run on and volley it."

Milne's goal earned his side three crucial points but Saints' player-boss Derek McInnes insisted they now have to launch a magnificent seven wins on the trot to stay in touch with the league's pacesetters.

He said: "We've had a few good runs this season but only about four wins in a row and we need at least seven to be up there challenging.

"We are playing cup football if you like every week because we have to keep winning.

"We are a hard side to beat and have only lost four games this season but we really need to turn the draws into wins."

Saints started the match brightly but quickly found themselves on the back foot as Morton began to find their passes.

And it was the home side who took the lead in 17 minutes.

Winger Jim McAlister darted to the byeline and teased in an inviting cross for Weatherson to loop in a magnificent header from 15 yards that sailed over Alan Main.

Weatherson was on hand moments later to nod down a 10-yard header but this time Main flew across to his right to smother near the line.

The striker then came close to setting up a goal when he glanced on a free-kick and Brian Wake lunged in to meet the knock-down only to be blocked bravely by Main.

But Saints levelled moments later as Liam Craig raced down the right and pulled the ball across the face of goal for Milne to stab a close-range shot against the right post before ramming home the rebound.

The away side then moved ahead just before the break with a fabulous rasping shot from Milne that flew into the net from 25 yards.

Davie Irons' Morton battled hard in the second half and thought they had snatched a point near the end when Weatherson's back header beat Main but the goal was ruled out for offside.

But the new Ton boss said: "I saw a lot of positives out there.

"We were a bit shaky for the first 10 minutes but we picked ourselves up and scored a good goal. We were also unlucky near the end when we had one ruled out for offside.

"First and foremost the aim is to stay in the division and then reassess things in the summer.

"I took a bit of criticism this week for leaving Gretna for Morton but you need to be thick skinned in this game although some of the criticism was a bit over the top."

MoM: Milne (St Johnstone )