'We needed him' - Portsmouth keeper Toby Steward praised for 3 'unbelievable' injury-time stops in latest St Johnstone loan appearance
Pompey’s Toby Steward was in fine form for St Johnstone on Friday night as his three last-gasp saves against Dunfermline helped moved Simo Valakari’s side six points clear at the top of the Scottish Championship
Toby Steward has been showered with praise following his heroics for St Johnstone on Friday night.
The on-loan Pompey keeper produced three outstanding quickfire saves in injury-time against Dunfirmline to ensure the McDiarmid Park side ran out 2-1 winners - a magnificent contribution that also sent Simo Valakari’s side six points clear at the top of the Scottish Championship table.
Within the space of a minute, the 20-year-old got a fingertip to Andy Tod’s superbly struck free-kick to push it onto the post; he then tipped an effort from the same player over the bar, adjusting his feet quickly to deal with the danger; before diving low to his right to somehow keep Jermiah Chilokoa-Mullen’s towering header from the resulting corner-kick out of the back of the net.
Team-mates rushed to congratulate the keeper for his superhuman efforts in front of a live TV audience, with referee Matthew MacDermid calling a halt to the game immediately after Steward’s third intervention.
And their was further praise from Valakari in his post-match interviews, with the Finn hailing what he had just witnessed from the young goalkeeper.
Valakari on Steward: We needed him today
‘In the end it was a great triple save from Toby,’ said Valakari to The Courier.
‘The second one when he needed to back pedal and sort his feet out to put the ball over the bar wasn’t easy.
‘The save from the free-kick before it was brilliant, and then from the corner he got a strong hand at the bottom corner to save us the three points. We needed him today.
‘The players were so happy for Toby. There’s a great togetherness in this team.
‘It felt like a big, big football match – two teams going fully at each other.
‘And our fans played their part by creating a massive atmosphere.’
How social media reacted to Toby Steward’s latest St Johnstone display
Highly-regarded Steward’s appearance against Dunfermline was his 11th for the Saints since his season-long loan move north of the border was confirmed in July.
Since then, the Blues academy product has earned himself plenty of admirers - and quite a few more were added to his fan club following his latest showing in a St Johnstone shirt.
@StJohnstoneFans commented on X: ‘Toby Steward take a bow. An outrageous couple of minutes from him at the end of that match.’
‘Hats off to Toby Steward. The league’s quietest keeper and he’s alive at the death to preserve the win with real quality.’ wrote @SeanHamSport.
@Chrissy_1884 said: ‘That old saying, never fall in love with a loan player. Toby Steward is the latest.’
Meanwhile, @GrantRoss1 posted: ‘TobySteward!!! Proving to be some signing for such a young lad and in a high pressure position.’
Steward and St Johnstone are next in action on Tuesday night, when they travel to bottom-of-the-table Airdrieonians.
For your next Pompey read: Portsmouth boss sounds Championship squad warning with Ipswich Town, Watford, Middlesbrough & Co on horizon