St Andrews United boss hasn’t had to look to hard for selection problems so far this season and Saturdays second Premier League clash away at Kinnoull was no exception but still his Saints side remain unbeaten having taken four points from the initial outings.

McGuire brought in keeper Darren Clarkson, on loan from Dundee United, for his debut in place of Fraser Hayles with Danny Dobie making his debut at left back. Barry Sibanda’s impressive performance at centre half when he came on against Dundonald, saw him rewarded with a starting position alongside Jamie Mackie.

United came out of the blocks like a train with Kinnoull stunned like a rabbit caught in the headlights of a juggernaut and it was no surprise when Paddy Deane rifled the ball beyond Scott Christie with just 5 minutes on the clock after a great ball through from Robbie Holden. Deane repaid the favour just three minutes later As he played a ball through, Holden rounded the keeper before sliding the ball in to the empty net. Saints continued on the front foot with Deane especially causing the defence huge problems, aby supported by Holden and the pace of the impressive Sam Buchan on the wing. Deane was unlucky not to add to his goal on 23 minutes after using his strength to hold off the defender but saw his shot go inches wide. Kinnoull had a rare opportunity on 27 minutes when Sibanda was penalised for a push but the free kick went high over the bar without troubling Clarkson. Deane had another chance on 33 minutes with a free header from a Darren Kelly corner and then on 34 Mackie headed straight at the keeper after Sibanda had got on the end of a long corner. On 40 miniutes it was Sibanda’s turn to miss a chance when he headed over from yet another Kelly corner. Kinnoull then hit Saints with a sucker blow as a long ball caught the defence out of position and as Clarkson came out, the ball was knocked home by Mark Smith .

The goal just before the break gave the homeside an added impetus as the second period began and Saints didn’t have everything there own way, however, like on Wednesday They kept their defensive shape and made it very hard for Kinnoull to get anywhere near the United goal. Rhys Davies had a chance on 57 minutes after he had appeared to push Dobie off the ball but Clarkson was out quickly to block the forward. Former Kinnoull man Daryn Smith almost marked his return with a goal on 70 minutes but saw his shot go inches wide. On 72 minutes McGuire replaced Kelly with Kadela switching Buchan to the right and the substitution almost immediately paid off. Buchan picked the ball up on the right before getting to the byline and whipping the ball back for a simple Holden tap in on 78 minutes. Holden should have completed his hat-trick on 84 minutes but put the ball high over the bar before doing exactly the same right on full time.

Another hard working performance from McGuires Saints, they started really well before going cold a little bit at the start of the second half, if they had taken their first half chances we could have been looking at a very heavy defeat for Kinnoull.