St Johnstone 1-1 Dunfermline

Mar 30 2008 Michael Baillie Reports

DEREK McINNES laid into sloppy Saints' failed title bid and insists they need to find a killer touch to have any hope of fulfiling their SPL dream.

The St Johnstone boss was frustrated with his side's dire finishing after Stevie Crawford's late leveller cancelled out Allan McManus' opener.

And the irate gaffer reckons it's a failure to be ruthless in front of goal that separates his team from the leaders.

He said: "It's frustrating. We've been here before, losing points because we've not had conviction at one end and failed to keep them out at the other.

"We lost a poor goal that we should have dealt with better. We showed why we're third in the league. We need to make sure when we're on top we put teams away.

"Instead of going away happy with a win, it's a draw and that has cost us."

The home side could have taken the lead inside the first minute but Liam Craig curled an effort wide from 25 yards.

Steven Milne then passed up a great chance in 19 minutes when Paul Sheerin's shot fell to his feet but he could only drag a weak effort past the post.

The agility of Saints keeper Alan Main kept the scoreline blank when he produced a full-stretch save to tip over a Kevin Harper piledriver from 25 yards just before the half hour.

Saints finally made the breakthrough seven minutes later when McManus headed home from a Sheerin free-kick.

Milne should have added a second two minutes after the break when he was put through with only Pars keeper Paul Gallacher but failed to convert.

Dunfermline had barely threatened but Crawford fired home following a lightning break 13 minutes before full-time.

Pars boss Jim McIntyre said: "I was happy we got a point but not with the display. We showed resilience to come back but we were poor in the first half."

MoM: Craig (St Johnstone)