THE official party line was, predictably, that this wasn’t simply a dress rehearsal for the Betfred Cup final and we should resist reading too much into the result, but the St Johnstone celebrations at full-time told a different story. If nothing else, this proved there are chinks in the Livingston armour.
This was a first defeat since November for the hosts and gone in a flash was the aura of invincibility under David Martindale, lost in a performance where the Lions’ roar didn’t get past a whimper until Scott Pittman’s late consolation.
There were no such problems for St Johnstone, who produced a composed, disciplined display to fend off Livi’s prods and showed their own quality when the time came.
No more so than at the end of an otherwise eventless first-half when Scott Tanser stepped up to send home a free kick worthy of winning any game. Had he picked the ball up, strolled beyond Livingston’s static wall, and put it into Max Stryjek’s net by hand, the wing back could not have scored a finer goal.
Shaun Rooney’s second-half header wasn’t half bad either, the defender glancing beyond the Pole, and the only blots on the St Johnstone copybook were Pittman’s late flick and a missed Stevie May penalty.
“This won’t have any bearing on the cup final, it’s a different day, a different pitch, a bigger pitch,” Callum Davidson, the St Johnstone manager, said. “There could be different players playing at Hampden, so it won’t have any impact.
“The main thing for us until the final comes around is the league and today gets us another three points.
“At Scott’s goal, I actually thought it had hit the metal behind the goal and gone wide and it was only when I heard the shouts of ‘yes’ I realised he’d scored.
“It was a very good free kick.”
Tanser’s strike was undoubtedly the standout moment in a frantic match which too often broke down in the final third.
The first-half was especially guilty of this and other than a Scott Robinson run behind foiled by the speed of Liam Gordon or Jason Kerr volleying over at the back post there wasn’t much to shout about until the wingback curled home in the final seconds.
Shortly after the break it was two when Livi fell asleep to allow Rooney to drift into the box and head home. Only a fine Stryjek save from May’s spot kick stopped it being a rout for the Saints.
Livingston, who missed out on the chance to make up ground on third place, did eventually score but Pittman’s glancing finish was too little, too late to save their unbeaten run.
“They are two poor goals from our point of view and two good goals from their point of view,” said Martindale. “I don’t think we defended our box well enough in every set play. St Johnstone did that better today.
“We need to make sure the overhang doesn’t eat into Wednesday night [when Livi play Hamilton].”
When asked if the loss would have an impact on the final, he said: “I am confident that is not the case.
"Even if we won it wouldn't have given us the opportunity to go into the final as favourites."
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