Fortune helps Celtic cut lead at top to seven

St Johnstone 1 Celtic 4:WITH A quarter of an hour left, this was another one of those afternoons for Tony Mowbray. The manager's aspirations of a Scottish Premier League title in his debut season at Celtic have been undermined to a large extent thus far by the team's inability to convert territorial dominance into goals. This time, though, Mowbray's men ultimately inflicted the sort of punishment which the manager is adamant has been threatening for weeks.

In a familiar scene, Celtic initially contrived to miss chances from positions few would think possible. Artur Boruc, the Celtic goalkeeper, will have had busier Sundays in front of his television.

Georgios Samaras, Marc-Antoine Fortune and Pat McCourt ensured Mowbray this time had an end result. That, coupled with Rangers’ home draw with Hearts on Saturday, meant the Ibrox team’s lead at the summit of the Scottish Premier League had been cut to seven points.

“It is just another three points, every game is significant,” said Mowbray afterwards. “I don’t see this weekend as one where things have swung towards us.”

One down side was Celtic lost Glenn Loovens, who left the field with a serious head wound, having already played a part in St Johnstone’s goal by hauling down Steven Milne inside the penalty area. Liam Craig did the rest from 12 yards in emphatic fashion.

Whether the dismissal of the hosts’ Graham Gartland 20 seconds into the second period was pivotal, or Mowbray’s half-time message had been more robust than ever, is unclear. What was striking is just how dominant Celtic were after Gartland departed having received a straight red card for dragging down the rampaging Samaras on the edge of the penalty area.

Aiden McGeady and Samaras missed glorious opportunities before Fortune converted the most tricky of the lot with a fierce shot into the top corner of Graeme Smith’s net.

A Samaras volley from 12 yards edged the visitors in front before Smith spilled a McCourt shot, allowing Fortune to slot home the rebound before McCourt supplied a goal of equal quality to Fortune’s first. Celtic could have had more but, in the present climate, four goals and three points were welcome enough.

Also yesterday, Dubliner Jon Daly struck a hat-trick as Dundee United regained third spot with a 4-1 victory at Falkirk. David Goodwillie coolly slotted the first goal to give United a deserved 29th-minute lead and Daly struck either side of half-time. The Irishman completed his treble in the closing stages as United’s convincing victory continued their strong revival from the difficult initial spell that followed Craig Levein’s departure.

ST JOHNSTONE: Smith, Irvine, MacKay, Gartland, Grainger, Millar, Morris, Davidson (Moon 78), Craig, Deuchar (MacDonald 63), Milne (Anderson 48). Subs not used: Main, Morais, Jackson, Reynolds. Booked: Gartland. Sent Off: Gartland (46).

CELTIC: Boruc, Hinkel (McCourt 56), Loovens (Caddis 23), O’Dea, Thompson, McGinn, Crosas, Zhi (McGowan 61), McGeady, Samaras, Fortune. Subs not used: Zaluska, Mizuno, Forrest, Lafferty. Booked: Samaras.

Referee: W Collum (Scotland).