Told by manager Tommy Wright that at 22 he needs to start producing in matches what he has shown he is capable of in training, Craig Thomson properly obliged at Pittodrie on Saturday.
Before the 22-year-old took the field his colleagues had produced the sort of performance that demonstrates why their manager is so respected as they prevented the second best team in the land from developing any sort of rhythm and consequently made it relatively easy for their goal-keeper Alan Mannus to mark his 200th appearance for the club with a clean sheet.
However there was little prospect to that point of one point being turned into three and then, as Wright put it, came those two moments of quality that transformed the match.
“Obviously when the manager called me over, I was quite excited just to be getting on the pitch,” said Thomson.
“My first run resulted in that indirect free-kick, which led to the goal and managing to score the second was great.
“That’s my first goal for St Johnstone, a good way to start and a hard one to follow. The manager sent me on, wished me all the best and told me to try to change the game for us. Thankfully, I managed to do that.”
He most certainly did, albeit there was an element of good fortune about the first of their goals since some referees might not have felt that, after Joe Lewis had parried Thomson’s shot, Ryan Jack had deliberately controlled the ball for his goal-keeper in a manner that could be considered a pass back.
Derek McInnes certainly felt it had been a harsh interpretation of what had happened, noting that his captain had been nudged as he went to shield the ball and allow his goal-keeper to pick it up, resulting in him making contact with the ball as he did.
However the Aberdeen manager also acknowledged that the way his players then handled things, three of them charging towards Danny Swanson as he prepared to lash the ball low through their legs and beyond Joe Lewis, could also have been better.
The Dons, who could have wrapped up second place and duly allowed McInnes the full range of options in terms of preparing them for the forthcoming Scottish Cup final while negotiating the last four league matches, were then caught on the break as they chased the game, giving Murray Davidson time to both wait, then weight his pass to the supporting Thomson perfectly to let the youngster have his special moment.
It was a win that took Saints six points clear of fourth placed Hearts, within range of a fifth qualification for Europe in sixth years during an era that has overturned the expectations the club has of itself.
“We all want to get back into Europe because it’s a great experience and, at the start of the season, we know it’s possible. As soon as we get into the top six, we know what we can do,” Thomson observed.
He noted that to play in European ties this summer would be an extraordinary personal turnaround from playing at Stranraer at the start of the year, but his career trajectory demonstrates the benefit of the club’s consistency in recent years, since even having been a peripheral figure in first team terms up to now, he still has European experience to draw upon.
“It would be great to finish the year by getting into Europe,” said Thomson.
“I expected to be on loan all season so I was surprised by the manager recalling me in January.
From playing in League One at the start of the season, I could be playing in Europe next season. No disrespect to League One but it’s a massive leap.
“It was a great confidence boost when the manager called me back in. I was involved the last time we were in Europe. I was in Lucerne with the squad and I was in Slovakia.
‘I was actually on the bench in Lucerne. It would be brilliant for me to actually make an appearance in Europe next season, but we have to get there, first and foremost.”
For Aberdeen the defeat means there is still work to do in terms of securing second spot, as midfielder Graeme Shinnie acknowledged afterwards, but he noted that they have shown the capacity to respond to setbacks this season and added that he does not think that even if and when they do achieve their league target, there will necessarily be wholesale changes.
“It’s a hard one for the manager because he’ll want the team to keep rolling on and hitting good form into the final, but it is a chance to give a few boys a rest. So it will be a hard decision for him, but nothing is done yet, nothing is done yet,” he stressed.
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