Airdrie United 1 St Johnstone 1 ON a paper, this game looked to be a no-contest. St Johnstone, the league leaders, travelled down to Lanarkshire to take on Airdrie United, the team propping up the table and under threat of being cast adrift from the rest of the clubs in the division.

Airdrie United 1

St Johnstone 1

ON a paper, this game looked to be a no-contest. St Johnstone, the league leaders, travelled down to Lanarkshire to take on Airdrie United, the team propping up the table and under threat of being cast adrift from the rest of the clubs in the division.

However, as everyone knows, football matches do not always work out quite as planned.

Indeed, for large swathes of the game, it was difficult to comprehend just who was top and who was bottom of the table in a match that flowed from end to end with chances being created - and missed - with incredible regularity.

The game looked to be heading for a no-score draw but 10 minutes from time the Perth side took the lead when Airdrie full-back Willie McLachlan, who has been signed on a one-month loan deal from Rangers, was somewhat harshly adjudged to have impeded Saints substitute Andy Jackson inside the area and Liam Craig gratefully accepted the opportunity to put his side ahead from the penalty spot.

All three points looked to be heading up the M9 but there was to be a sting in the tail for the visitors. Kenny Black, the Airdrie manager, made a double substitution, replacing David Nixon and Steven McDougall with Stephen Maguire and Kevin Watt after 85 minutes, and, as the game approached its denouement, Airdrie were rewarded for their endevour when Maguire got his head to a Joe Cardle cross into the box to knock the ball wide of Alan Main and earn Airdrie a deserved point.

Derek McInnes, the St Johnstone manager, admitted to his disappointment that his team had lost two points after having taken the lead so late in proceeding, saying: "I really expected us to see the game out after scoring from the penalty. We should never have allowed them the chance to equalise."

After having lost their last four games in the division, Black obviously was delighted to have halted the slide. He said: "It would have been harsh if we had lost because I thought we put a lot into the game and a draw was the least we deserved.

"I will try to bring in a couple of new faces in the January transfer window as I need to freshen things up a bit."