They would spend extra hours on the training pitch attempting to perfect the art of finishing.
Balls thrown over the shoulder, a quick movement forward and then turning attention to the back of the net.
Mentor Peter ‘Peaso’ MacDonald would go first before a young forward by the name of Stevie May would follow.
At this point in time, MacDonald was reaching the latter stages of his Perth career while homegrown Newburgh talent May was seeking to carve out the start of a special journey in the game.
“I remember the two boys - Stevie May and Steven Reynolds,” recalled MacDonald.
“Reynolds was just ahead of Stevie to start with. I think he had been training more with the first team and playing very well in reserve games.
“But through the summer Stevie got a training plan and he worked through that, looking to make him fitter and stronger. He had a general level of fitness but was still slight in frame.
“He came back really fit and you could see he had used his weeks off wisely instead of sitting about doing nothing. Then that was him. He made his mark that year, although I remember him being quite raw.
“When he was fairly young I used to do quite a lot of finishing after training.
“Sometimes I would go out in the afternoon with Stevie to do a bit of training just me and him. It was normal, instinctive finishing where the ball would come over your shoulder and you would run on and hit it.
“The aim was to hit it across the goal before the goalkeeper could get set. We would do that quite a bit.”
To quickly fast forward the story more than 10 years, May now sits just one goal behind MacDonald in Saints’ all-time scoring chart.
A beautiful headed winner following sharp movement inside the box against Hibs last Friday night was the 29-year-old’s 56th in all competitions for the Perth club.
“As you get older, you need to adapt,” MacDonald said. “But the instincts are still there.
“You might become a yard slower with speed and touches, but you can be a yard or two quicker upstairs in your head.
“You can take the opportunity to get across a defender. You only need that half yard. If you’re bright and alert, you will always get chances and especially running across a centre-back.
“Sometimes it doesn’t matter how fast or slow you are. It doesn’t take Usain Bolt to get across someone in the box.
“When you have a work ethic like Stevie, it tends to lend itself to being more successful.
“His attitude was always first class. He would never moan and would just get on with things. A lovely, pleasant boy.”
Homegrown hero May’s form has been a pleasing watch for Perth supporters, with his recent displays at Tannadice and Easter Road providing sufficient evidence to suggest he still has a barrel load of goals available in the boots.
Goals were never in short supply during his younger days, from scoring hundreds for local youth club Bridge of Earn, shining as a youth for Saints up and down the country, that debut first team goal as a 16-year-old against Airdrie to banging in screamers on a weekly basis during loan spells with Alloa and Hamilton.
“I actually remember that Airdrie game,” said MacDonald, who didn’t play in the fixture.
“Airdrie had the play-off on the Wednesday and our game was arranged for the Monday. They played a youth team but Stevie came off the bench and scored a cracking goal.
“You see a lot of boys at 16 doing well and then, by 18, the level of performances stop before getting into the first team. There was that glimmer of hope for him and Stevie always had that spark that he could go and do something.
“We started up front together in my last game actually. It was at Love Street.
“And then he went on loan and scored loads of goals for Alloa and Hamilton. Next he was starting for St Johnstone.
“You look at the route he has taken and it has not been easy. He had to prove himself in a men’s environment as a young kid and then prove himself again at Hamilton at Championship level. He scored a few worldies, I remember that. And a few hat-tricks too.”
Of course, May would earn early legendary status with his goals helping to book Saints their ticket to European football on more than one occasion.
There was the small matter of his influence in the Scottish Cup win of 2014 too.
There was sadness, but excitement, when he was pinched by English Championship club Sheffield Wednesday later that year. A move to Preston North End would follow where he picked up a horrible knee ligament injury.
It appeared - and was - a long road back but after moving north to join Aberdeen, May finally returned home to Saints in 2019.
He has chipped in with vital goals since then but, certainly, this season he appears to be a player taking to the field with confidence reminiscing his early years in a Perth jersey.
“I remember when he got his bad knee injury down south but look where he is at now,” MacDonald said. “I’m not sure exactly how many games he has played for St Johnstone but of course he has earned his right to be back in.
“If you watch the games, he works his socks off every single game. Pressing defenders and chasing lost causes. That earns the right to opportunities and over the years he has taken them because he is a good finisher and goal scorer.
“When I was at Saints, I would always base my game on work-rate. A lot of my work was outside the box. I’m a big believer if you work hard things will fall for you.”
May’s success this term, it would be fair to say, has been helped by having experienced frontman Nicky Clark as a partner in attack. Clark is proving a sensible piece of business. A clever footballer with his back and front to goal.
MacDonald added: “The two of them are a good partnership. Stevie will run the channels and chase lost causes. Nicky will come short and link the play. It causes so many problems.
“I sat with Callum [Davidson] at the Kilmarnock versus Ross County game recently and we had a good chat. He was talking about how Nicky is similar to Steven MacLean.
“It might be an old-school duo but you cannot beat it if the two of them are on fire and are coinciding with each other’s movements.”
While MacDonald has not watched too much of Saints this season, there will always be a wee smile when May’s name pops up as a scorer on the radio or television. It harks back to those days on the training field.
“When I was a young boy coming through at Rangers, you always look up to the players who looked after you,” MacDonald said. “Ally McCoist, Derek McInnes and Ian Durrant always looked after me as a kid.
“I wanted to replicate that when I was getting older. Young Stevie worked so hard and earned his right to play for his local team.”
