So, having lost to Airdrie we moved on to the vital game in Perth. We were only three points ahead of St Johnstone at this stage and a defeat would have put us back at the bottom of the league.
The plus side was that we had some momentum going into the match and the six point lead that would come with a win would be very hard for the Saints to make up.On the day, St Johnstone made a better start and took the lead.We equalised shortly before half time but the home side took control again in the second half and deservedly regained the lead.However, they capitulated in the last fifteen minutes and goals from Elliott and a last minute winner from Nicholas ensured the points were going to Lanarkshire.
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Philliben and Krivicopic were winning over some of the doubting fans and a great performance at home to Celtic only furthered their cause.The game looked to be heading for a 1-1 draw but a theatrical dive from Shaun Maloney gave Celtic a last minute penalty.Despite missing from the spot the previous week, Larsson made no mistake and we were left with nothing.
Eric Black was appointed our manager shortly after the Celtic game and his sole aim for the season was to keep us in the league.He had a hard start with two trips to Dundee inside a week; Tannadice on the Saturday and Dens on the Tuesday.The Dundee United game saw both sides produce poor performances and we escaped with a 1-1 draw.Dundee outclassed us 3-1 and we were left with only one point from our last three games.Eric Black would make his Fir Park debut against fellow strugglers Dunfermline in what was looking like another crunch game.Again, when it was really needed we came up with the goods.We ran the entire game and could easily have won by four or five.As it happened, we had to settle for Greg Strong’s headed winner but it was still a nice bit of revenge for the opening day debacle.
The away curse was continuing with woeful trips to Pittodrie and Rugby Park producing no points.Karl Ready almost stole a point from Aberdeen with a last minute header but the game at Killie was nothing more than shocking.The overwhelming feeling among ‘Wellfans at this time was that Black was producing a product which was worse than what was endured under Billy Davies.Four points from fifteen was not a good start but one positive thing was the arrival of Eric Deloumeaux from Le Harve.The classy defender was to prove to be Eric Black’s most inspired move.
Having lost two on the bounce, we were faced with another challenge against Aberdeen at Fir Park.The Dons were flying at this time but their away record was only marginally better than ours.We raced into a two goal lead but Aberdeen pulled back a soft one before the break.When Hicham Zeroualli scored a wonder goal to equalise ten minutes from time, it looked like we’d blown it.All was not lost though and a young man named James McFadden was about to explode into the first team.Stuart Elliott’s deep cross was met by Faddy at the back post with a superb header which found the bottom corner.The ‘Well fans went wild and a new hero was born.
| Season Review 2001/2 Part 1 |