Ten-man St Johnstone fight back twice at Kilmarnock as Valakari takes the blame for his goalkeeper's red card
Sunday 1 November 2026 · By Murray Shaw
St Johnstone took a point from Rugby Park on Saturday that looked unlikely very early on. Goalkeeper Toby Steward was sent off for handling outside his area, 13 minutes in by the BBC's clock and 11 by Kilmarnock's, and Saints then played almost all the game with ten men. They went on to draw 2–2, twice coming from behind, which is a hard-earned point given the circumstances.
Cathal McCarthy scored from the free kick that followed the red card. Danny Schmidt equalised on 40 minutes, then Djenairo Daniels put Kilmarnock back in front a minute later. Joel Cotterill made it 2–2 on 65 minutes. Ross Sinclair came on in goal, according to the BBC.
What stood out afterwards was Valakari's honesty. Speaking to the BBC about Steward, he said: "That's my tactical choice... I want my keeper to be like a sweeper behind those long balls." The BBC noted that he did not blame the goalkeeper. He also praised his players on the club website: "Our team did it for Toby and they did it for Taylor Steven who I needed to take out." Steven is the attacking midfielder Valakari took off.
We haven't seen any SFA or club announcement about a possible suspension for Steward, so we won't speculate about who plays in goal next.
It is a fourth game without a win for Saints, but they are unbeaten in two. The sequence goes: a 1–1 draw with Dundee United on 17 October, a 4–0 defeat at Rangers on 24 October, a 2–2 draw at home to Motherwell on Wednesday, and Saturday's draw. In that Motherwell game, Taylor Steven scored on 19 minutes, Ibrahim Said and Tawanda Maswanhise put Motherwell ahead, and Josh Campbell levelled on 90+3 in front of 4,027. Their last league win was 1–0 at Aberdeen on 11 October.
The draws are adding up. Our count from the dated results is five in 12 league games, the most of any Premiership club, with Dundee United on four. St Johnstone are 7th on the BBC table taken at 13:01 GMT today, on 14 points from 12 games with three wins, five draws and four defeats. They are level on points with St Mirren, who are 8th on a worse goal difference, a point behind Falkirk, who have played one game fewer, and two ahead of Motherwell. They have scored 15 and conceded 19. At McDiarmid Park they have won two, drawn three and lost one, while on the road it is one win, two draws and three defeats.
Saints are in the bottom six, which only matters when the league splits after 33 games. The middle of the table is congested.
Dundee visit McDiarmid Park on Saturday 7 November (15:00 GMT). After that St Johnstone go to Falkirk on Saturday 21 November and to Dundee United on Saturday 28 November.
Saints have found ways to avoid defeat. The next step is turning draws into wins.
North is at the top. The goals face the North Stand and the Ormond Stand. The Main Stand, on the west side, is drawn a little deeper because it is the taller stand. Pitch proportions follow the 105 by 68.5 metre playing surface.
McDiarmid Park is a tidy, purpose-built ground on the north-western edge of Perth, and it is a straightforward away day if you plan the last couple of miles. St Johnstone have played here since August 1989, when the club left Muirton Park for land given by farmer Bruce McDiarmid. It was the first all-seater stadium built in the United Kingdom, and the covered bowl still feels compact rather than cavernous. Capacity is 10,696. Most Saturdays the place is well short of that, so what noise there is comes from the ends.
Visiting supporters are usually put in the North Stand, directly behind the goal at the northern end of the pitch. It holds around 2,000, and the view is clean, with no pillars to duck. Smaller followings are sometimes kept in a segregated block at the north end of the Main Stand instead, with both end stands closed. If your club is bringing a large travelling support, St Johnstone can also open the Ormond Stand at the opposite end and a slice of the Main Stand running towards the North Stand. Check the ticket before you travel: the end you have been given is the end you will be singing from.
The pitch runs north to south, so the goals sit in front of the North Stand and the Ormond Stand, not in front of the side stands. The Main Stand, on the west side, is slightly taller than the other three. It has the dugouts, the tunnel and the better legroom. Opposite it is the East Stand, a single tier of home seats. The south end is the Ormond Stand, named after Willie Ormond, who left St Johnstone in 1973 to manage Scotland. A digital scoreboard sits in the north-east corner. Seats are blocked in blue, white and flashes of orange and red, and the grass pitch measures 105 by 68.5 metres.
Getting here is the part that catches people out. The address is Crieff Road, Perth, PH1 2SJ, a little over two miles from the city centre and nearly three from Perth station, which is too far to walk with a crowd. Stagecoach buses from Mill Street drop you by the ground; a taxi is simpler after an evening kick-off. By car, follow the A9 towards Inverness and watch for the signs onto the slip road. The car park is largely pass-led, with a few matchday spaces at a small charge, and police direct supporter coaches to their own bays. Arrive early. The roads around Tulloch tighten up close to kick-off.
There is no proper pub within an easy walk, so drink in Perth and travel out. The stadium bar takes both home and away supporters. Kiosks sell the usual pies and hot drinks, and take card as well as cash. The club shop, in the Ormond Stand, opens on matchdays only, before the game and briefly after the whistle. Tickets are best bought in advance through St Johnstone. Wheelchair spaces for visiting supporters are on a raised platform in the Main Stand, with an accessible toilet nearby, and need to be booked with the club.
It is not a hostile ground. Stewards are firm about persistent standing in the aisles and about anything coming onto the pitch, but the sightlines are clean and the legroom is better than at most Scottish grounds of this size. The floodlights are the pylons that once stood at Muirton. Wrap up in the north end: that stand takes the weather off the hills, and a Perth winter does not do mild.