Gimme five for this win

Simo revels in clean sheet to hold on to lead at top

- BY FRASER MACKIE

SIMO VALAKARI hailed his shutout Saints for not giving Arbroath a sniff of goal as they kept their five-point lead at the Championship summit intact.

Adama Sidibeh's first-half strike settled a battle between first and third as his defensive pals secured Saints’ fifth clean sheet in six games.

Arbroath have already caused problems for their promotion rivals this season as they thumped the Perth side 3-1 in October.

St Johnstone couldn't shake off the Red Lichties by adding a few more goals to their lead.

But Valakari’s men didn't give the high-fliers - who hadn't been beaten since November - a look-in it's no surprise Arbroath are as high in the table as they are.

“That makes what we did to handle the situation even better.