The rambunctious roarings of joy that were bellowed from some of the more well-lubricated denizens of Rugby Park long after the final whistle here on Saturday generated such a reverberating din, it could have shoogled the rivets out of place on the beams of the main stand.
One of the hospitality areas in the ground seemed to be quenching so many jubilant drouths, you actually wondered how the bar steward will cope if Kilmarnock win the league?
There’s a heck of a long way to go before the Ladbrokes Premiership is decided, of course, but for the time being those in this blue and white corner of Ayrshire are enjoying the ride. And what a ride it continues to be.
Saturday’s victory over toiling St Mirren kept Kilmarnock right in the merry midst of the title race. With the winter break now upon us, Steve Clarke’s team sit just a point behind joint leaders Rangers and Celtic.
Given the run they are on, the Kilmarnock players probably just want to keep rolling with the momentum instead of kicking back with their baffies on and gazing lovingly at the league table. Then again?
“My legs are knackered and I’m looking forward to the break,” said Greg Taylor with a smile. “It’s a busy December, with seven or eight games, so it does no harm to have a rest.”
With affairs in the top flight going into cold storage for January, Taylor remains confident that the Kilmarnock push at the sharp end will not be hampered by the break in proceedings.
“I don’t think motivation will be a problem when we come back,” added the 21-year-old. “We are up at that end of the table and we want to stay there. We are enjoying our football and you don’t need any more motivation when you are doing that. It’s great to be up there.”
The Steve Clarke Effect has done for Kilmarnock what the Lynx Effect did for men who squirted some of that particular deodorant under their oxters. Or something like that. Having amassed a haul of 74 points during 2018, Killie, statistically, are the best team in Scotland’s top league. The reigning champions, Celtic, plundered 73. Like his manager, though, Taylor is not one for getting carried away by number crunching at this time of a long season.
“It’s been a successful 12 months … but a calendar year means nothing,” he said.
Kilmarnock burst from the traps like something you’d see at the Shawfield dogs and were two goals to the good within the opening 11 minutes thanks to an early double-whammy from Stuart Findlay and Jordan Jones. That blitz, according to St Mirren manager Oran Kearney, shook his startled players “to their bones” and despite pinching a goal back out of the blue through Simeon Jackson after 21 minutes, it was always going to be an uphill struggle for the visitors.
“There was over 1,000 away fans,” said the on-loan Adam Hammill. “All that they ask for is for us to put the hard work in and be committed. I think it is about time we started repaying their faith.”
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