Watch highlights as St Johnstone win 1-0 against Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premiership.

Adam Binnie
BBC Sport Scotland

St Johnstone moved above Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premiership after Makenzie Kirk's goal inflicted a third successive defeat on the Ayrshire side.

The Northern Irish striker produced a neat glancing header to nod in Andre Raymond's excellent delivery and earn St Johnstone's first victory in four league matches.

Kirk had spurned the only opportunity of an uneventful first half when his header from a Graham Carey cross dribbled harmlessly wide of Robby McCrorie's goal.

However, eight minutes into the second period, the youngster made amends when he found the net with his second sight of goal.

Kilmarnock still had more than 35 minutes to find an equaliser but failed to trouble Joshua Rae's goal.

Any hopes of a late resurgence were then extinguished when Derek McInnes's side were reduced to 10 men for the sixth time this season with just six minutes to play.

Liam Donnelly was shown a second yellow card by referee Iain Snedden for a high boot in the middle of the park.

Kirk shines for Saints

It was a first start in five league matches and a first under Simo Valakari for Kirk.

The 20-year-old more than repaid his new manager's trust with a crucial goal accompanied by an impressive performance.

He completed more successful dribbles than anyone else on the pitch and no other player had more shots or shots inside the opposition box.

His last start was in early October at Ibrox, where he missed a big opportunity to level the game at 1-0 down, but that doesn't seem to have fazed him.

There's always going to be a lot of pressure as the assistant manager's son, but Kirk answered his critics today.

Kilmarnock's constant crosses

The soft pitch made intricate passing moves difficult so Kilmarnock elected to constantly sling early deliveries into the box.

The visitors attempted a staggering 39 crosses and won 14 corners, yielding just one shot on target in the process.

That paired with a weak passing accuracy of just 65% makes for grim reading if you're a Kilmarnock fan.

Perhaps they missed Matty Kennedy and relied too heavily on Danny Armstrong?

The winger attempted 15 of the 39 total crosses but couldn't produce the goods on his return to the starting XI after a hamstring injury.

What they said

St Johnstone manager Simo Valakari: "The game was pretty much what we expected. We played against a very strong team who came and man marked us full pitch. It was not easy.

"We have good strikers and a lot of options there. All of them have different strengths. Makenzie Kirk has put his head down and has waited for his chance."

Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes: “There was loads of disruption and the boys were on the bus for four-and-a-half hours getting up here.

“We planned to have a pre-match meal at Dunblane and that had to be knocked on the head. But we didn’t allow that to impact us and we actually started really well.

“But our discipline isn’t helping us and we have to be better. We are seeing a lot of red cards and I guarantee you, a lot of them would not have been given last season."

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