ON THE approach to Rugby Park, come rain or shine, prowls a street preacher of the old school, complete with sandwich board and deafening exhortations for Kilmarnock fans to turn to the Lord.

Perhaps he is on to something because it appears faith is finally returning to Rugby Park.

And why not, after a first home win of the season secured by a piece of good fortune and achieved despite conceding the game’s opening goal to St Johnstone.

Following on from an opening league victory of the season at Dundee United, here was evidence Gary Locke’s side have shaken off their early-season malaise.

When St Johnstone took the lead through David Wotherspoon, there was frustration but not despair among the home support, and a sense Killie could find a response.

They did, courtesy of Josh Magennis and an own goal from Brian Easton.

Little wonder, then, that Locke was a delighted manager after the final whistle. “I thought we played well, particularly in the second half. We were good middle to front and defended well as a team, apart from the one occasion when they scored.”

For all Locke’s satisfaction, few would have predicted the game’s eventual outcome after 17 minutes.

At the heart of Kilmarnock’s recent travails is an inability to defend bread-and-butter situations.

Easton fired in a decent cross from the left but his delivery should have been meat and drink to the Kilmarnock rearguard.

To fail to attack the ball, as the home defenders did, was reprehensible but to gift John Sutton, for whom headers are a stock in trade, a free leap was unforgivable.

When the St Johnstone striker’s header crashed off the upright, Wotherspoon side-footed the ball into the net past Jamie MacDonald.

Such an early blow would have signalled Kilmarnock’s capitulation a few weeks ago but not now.

On 40 minutes, Greg Kiltie cut back from his position wide on the left and curled in a cross.

Magennis might boast a boxer’s build but his scoring touch was delicacy itself, with the merest flick of his forehead guiding the ball into Alan Mannus’s top corner.

“I enjoyed that one,’ revealed the Northern Ireland internationalist. “There was a fan who had been giving me dog’s abuse from the start so I made a point of picking him out when I scored.”

Losing a goalkeeper to injury always disrupts a team and even more so when the departing No 1 is the ever-excellent Jamie MacDonald. “Obviously it is a worry,” manager Locke admitted. “Jamie has been terrific for us, so we will have to wait and see how he is.”

Conor Brennan took over early in the second half yet was barely required. Killie were on top and were rewarded on the hour when McKenzie’s cross from the right flank nicked off Easton to loop over Mannus.

The winner was fortunate but the result was far from unjust, as McKenzie forced a fine save from Mannus, Kallum Higginbotham cracked the post with a low drive and Magennis fired wide as the home side wisely adopted a positive approach in the closing stages.

Faith has returned to Rugby Park but fervour, alas, has not. There were not many more than 3,000 here to see the hosts climb the SPFL table to eighth, level on points with the visitors.

For St Johnstone, a League Cup date with on-form, but lower- division, Rangers at Ibrox looms on Tuesday. “We are not defending certain situations well enough,” said boss Tommy Wright. “They had one striker in the box and we didn’t deal with him. Two or three guys could have ended the threat before it even got to that situation.

“That kind of individual error is why we are leaking so many goals. I have not been happy about that for a while.

“I certainly don’t consider us favourites against Rangers, or against any team at the minute.”