Oisin Smyth insists practice makes perfect after his fantastic free-kick clinched an early Christmas present for St Mirren.
The Northern Irish midfielder was handed his first start in two months with skipper Mark O’Hara sidelined by a thigh injury.
And the 24-year-old grabbed his top-team opportunity with both hands when he powerfully guided a free-kick from just outside the box into the far corner of the net to seal a 2-1 victory over Ross County.
Alex Iacovitti had opened the scoring for the Buddies in Dingwall on Saturday but Michee Efete equalised before Smyth popped up in the 89th minute.
The win cemented the Paisley side’s place in the Premiership top six and Smyth was delighted that hours honing his set-piece technique on the training ground had paid off.
“It was massive,” Smyth said afterwards of victory in the Highlands. “Sometimes when you hit them you know that it is going in.
“That’s the first free-kick I’ve scored in a competitive game so it’s a special one for me. I practice free-kicks every day and it’s something I was taught by my dad and grandad.
“I enjoyed celebrating with the fans 100 per cent. I haven’t contributed to much going forward since I signed. So, to get out there and celebrate with the fans was brilliant and something I have been looking forward to for a while.”
Smyth has had to be patient with Robbo opting for O’Hara and Killian Phillips as his central midfield pairing since going back to a 3-4-3 shape. He added: “It’s always frustrating when you are not playing.
“But the two boys were doing well for us so I knew it was going to be a while when we changed to the two in midfield. That’s the way football works – when you get your chance, you have to take it and I did that.”
Saints survived both the elements and a Scott Tanser red card up north to make it back-to-back away wins following the 1-0 injury-time defeat to Motherwell on December 7.
“It was a swirl of wind,” said Smyth. “It was everywhere for both teams. It was two weeks ago when we questioned the character after conceding a goal late.
“We showed last week [3-2 win at St Johnstone] and here that we are willing to dig deep and get results. We were down to 10 men for around 30 minutes of this game and we knew that it was going to be a battle.
“We’ve come out in the second half with the wind in our favour but, with 10 men, it’s never going to be easy. I thought we were brilliant to a man.”
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