It was an ugly game at Pittodrie and yet it encapsulated everything we have come to admire in the way that St Johnstone under Tommy Wright go about their business.
Aberdeen went into it knowing that their goal difference advantage is such that Rangers defeat meant that had they won and gone 12 points clear of the third placed side, they would have secured the runners-up spot.
They duly started both halves promisingly, but were never allowed to generate any sort of rhythm as, aided by referee Alan Muir’s willingness to get involved, they hustled and harried their opponents until they ran out of ideas and then made crucial errors that allowed the men from Perth to head back down the east coast having gained revenge in full for having lost to the Dons in the last match before the split.
“It’s a great three points because we told the players people thought we wouldn’t come here and get a result. We put in a sterling performance in what wasn’t a pretty game to watch. We defended well and nullified one of the best teams in the country. We provided the two moments of quality in the game and they have got us the three points.
“I can’t remember Alan Mannus having a save to make and Aberdeen never really got through us at all,” was the redoubtable Wright’s accurate post-match summation.
Hard to argue with that, just as the Saints manager admitted he is finding it harder to keep deflecting questions about possibly pursuing a top three finish while insisting they are not relaxing about finishing in the top four, because the gaps either side of them are identical.
Derek McInnes, his Aberdeen counterpart did, however, feel there was cause to quibble with the decision that, following a good move that had seen Joe Lewis forced into a decent save from lively substitute Craig Thomson, turned the match Saints’ way.
McInnes felt it had been harsh to adjudged the way that Ryan Jack controlled the ball for his goal-keeper after he had initially parried the ball, should not have been deemed a pass back, feeling that the nudge he received should have been sufficient mitigation, but he also admitted that the way Aberdeen defended the indirect free kick - from an acute angle around 10 yards out on the left hand side - left a lot to be desired.
Confronted with the football equivalent of a charge down as Liam Criag rolled the ball to him, Danny Swanson focused on drilling the ball low and across Lewis and it duly found its way inside the far post.
There had been few clearcut chances for either side prior to that, but as an over-committed Aberdeen set about pressing for the equaliser another error killed off the contest just three minutes later.
Their loss of possession just inside the visitors’ half allowed Murray Davidson to break with vast space in front of him and aware that he his support out-weighed the defence he calmly picked out young Thomson whose glee was unbounded, after he registered his first goal for the club with a sweet right footed strike, from the edge of the box on the right, which passed Lewis on his right.
“We were not at our best and it was a dour game,” McInnes acknowledged.
“We are the second best team in Scotland but we have the worst pitch. Players were slipping and the ball was bouncing about everywhere. It didn’t help either side.
“It was a nothing game with no real flow to either team and it was a poor performance by our normal standards.
"St Johnstone have taken advantage of a situation and then built on it to get a second goal. Nobody is going to give us three points and we didn’t do enough to earn it against St Johnstone.”
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