Who needs a Manager of the Month award eh? Tommy Wright may have been overlooked in favour of Ronny Deila for October’s gaffer gong but there will probably be a few more plaudits to come for the St Johnstone boss at this rate. There will be a few more points too. Since losing to Kilmarnock back in September, this hard-earned revenge mission was the Perth club’s seventh win in their last eight matches in all competitions. It’s very much a case of onwards and upwards. It didn’t start too well yesterday, mind you. Kilmarnock were quickly out of the blocks… a bit too quickly even for Wright. “I missed their goal as I was getting changed out of my suit,” confessed the Northern Irishman, who was switching back into his training gear after performing a pre-match duty as part of the Remembrance proceedings. “I just came back out and the ball was hitting the back of the frigging net. Needless to say I wasn’t happy but there are many ways to win a football game as we keep proving and we showed a lot of character to get back in the game.”

The turnaround was aided by goals from Michael O’Halloran and Chris Kane in a crisp, competitive contest that also had a fair bit of crash, bang, wallop too. The sending off of Liam Craig with six minutes left, for an eye-watering clatter on Kilmarnock’s Steven Smith, caused plenty of wincing and wailing as the match roared to a fevered finale but the hosts held on.

Most folk were still trying to shuffle and shoogle themselves into a comfortable position in their seats – Wright, meanwhile, was probably getting a leg into a pair of jogging bottoms - when the visitors forged a lead with barely two minutes on the clock.

Josh Macgennis released Kallum Higginbotham down the right hand side and his inviting cross was perfect for the soaring Smith, whose header rattled in off the underside of the bar.

It was a sprightly opening for the Ayrshire side and both Magennis and Smith had a couple of efforts on goal as the hosts struggled to gain a foothold.

The Saints weren’t quite marching in, rather muddling on but in the 22nd minute they gave themselves a much needed jolt with an equaliser as Kilmarnock surrendered possession in treacherous territory. The journey to goal seemed to take longer than a trip on the A9 during re-surfacing work as Steven MacLean patiently twisted and turned in the box in an effort to get a shot away. He kept his head amid the general kerfuffle and, with Kilmarnock keeper Jamie MacDonald sprawled on the deck, MacLean knocked a pass across the six yard box to O’Halloran who eventually swept the ball into the net.

With parity restored, the opening period meandered to a fairly uneventful conclusion but within a couple of minutes of the resumption, St Johnstone got their noses in front. Kilmarnock’s Mark O’Hara had almost put the ball into his own net when his interception of an O’Halloran pass thundered just past the post. It was only a temporary reprieve, though, and from the resulting corner, MacLean again played the role of provider as he teed-up Kane who smacked a drive home.

It was now Kilmarnock’s turn to chase things. Macgennis had a searing strike that zipped just wide while Tope Obadeyi snatched at a good opportunity in the box just after the hour but his attempt trundled tamely into the clutches of Alan Mannus.

The hosts continued to pose menace while Kilmarnock’s increasing urgency and desperation made for a ding-dong contest.

Kris Boyd had a clear sight at goal but his volley flew over the bar while Craig Slater’s drive was beaten away by Mannus as the clock ticked down. In the last knockings, Dale Carrick had a final chance for the visitors but he just couldn’t get a foot wrapped round the ball and the opportunity was lost.

“The frustrating thing is that we are getting a goal ahead in games but we don’t kill teams off,” lamented Gary Locke, the Kilmarnock manager. “If you don’t do that in this league, you’ll get punished.”