St. Johnstone 2 - 2 Aberdeen

On a warm and humid day in Perth, a decent crowd turned up to pay tribute to former Saints player Chris Millar.

In the second minute, a fine tackle on Richard Foster by Considine at left-back resulted in a quick break forward. Scott Wright got himself one on one with the full-back but was unable to deliver a cross. Scott was looking lively in the opening stages. On five minutes, the home side won the ball in midfield. Foster's cross from the right picked out David Wotherspoon. A fine first touch took him away from McKenna and his second touch saw him fire the ball into the corner past Lewis.
A minute later, May made room for a shot but his effort was too weak and then David McMillian found himself through on goal after slack marking but Lewis pushed the striker wide and McKenna was able to get back and retrieve the situation. On eight minutes, Aberdeen were level. Stephen Gleeson played a nice through ball looking for Stevie May. Goalkeeper Zander Clark hesitated ever so slightly which allowed the Dons striker to nip in and produce a smart finish to lob the ball over the advancing keeper.
On 12 minutes, May did well to put pressure on Anderson in a wide area. He won the ball and put over a good cross for the unmarked Cosgrove but his header just went wide. These were encouraging signs from Stevie who looks to be getting his sharpness back.
Jason Kerr then won St Johnstone a free-kick on the edge of the area after he was taken down by McKenna. Scott felt that he got the ball, but referee Alan Muir disagreed. From a very good area, Scott Tanser curled the ball well over. In the 19th minute, May produced a neat turn and laid the ball into the path of Gleeson. He tried to curl the ball into the far corner but Clark read his intentions and produced an easy save. Then May had a good chance, getting away a powerful shot, but Steven Anderson made a good block.
A minute later, there was some good defending from Devlin after a dangerous Foster cross and then Shinnie put Considine into space but his cross was too close to Clark. On 26 minutes came a well worked move as Logan got Wright isolated one on one with Tanser. The winger beat him twice before putting over a cross which was just behind Cosgrove. Although there were plenty of red shirts in the box, the Dons frustratingly could not keep the move going.
After 28 minutes, Scott Wright gave Aberdeen the lead with an excellent solo effort. He used his pace to pick the ball up in a central area and then sped away from the covering blue shirts. On the edge of the box, he took the ball wide before firing a low left foot shot across the keeper and into the corner of the net.
After a water break, Wootherspoon put over a really good in swinging free-kick which Lewis could not come for and Considine did very well at the back post to put the ball over his own bar. Five minutes later, Aberdeen fortuitously won a free-kick in a similar area but Wright's ball was too strong. Drey Wright then cut inside and fired a low shot just wide. A May free-kick on the by-line was better but was headed behind for a corner. In the final few minutes of the half, McMillian rose well before putting a header just wide.

HT. St Johnstone 1 Aberdeen 2

At half-time, Adam Rooney replaced Sam Cosgrove. On 48 minutes, more delightful skill from Scott Wright saw him nutmeg Davidson on the halfway line and then drive forward. He looked up and picked out Lewis Ferguson but his first time effort just went over. It was the rght idea from Lewis who put in another solid performance. On 58 minutes, after a lull in play, Scott Wright left Tanser for dead despite giving him a few yards head start. He put over a deep cross which Clark did well to take with Rooney waiting to pounce.
St Johnstone had a couple of decent attacking platforms but they were struggling to link up in the box before, on 62 minutes, they very nearly equalised. A free-kick was headed back across the face of goal but somehow McKenna managed to clear the ball off the line, clearing Hurst out at the same time. He took man and ball to make sure the goal stayed intact. With just over 20 minutes to go, McGinn and Mackay-Steven were brought on to try and liven up proceedings. On 71 minutes, Shinnie had a shooting chance. The ball hit a defender and fell kindly for the home side as GMS was lurking.
Saints then got an equaliser. On the break, Craig played the ball wide which looked the wrong decision, but when the cross came over, Greg Hurst found space before curling a shot inside Lewis' right post. In the build up to the goal, Gleeson was taken out off the ball but the referee felt it was accidental. Gleeson was then replaced by Frank Ross. At the same time, Chris Millar came on to make a cameo appearance.
On 76 minutes, McGinn's corner was flicked on and Ferguson was in plenty of space but the ball just went behind him and he could not adjust his feet quick enough. There were quite a few tired looking legs in the last ten minutes with the players not quite up to full speed yet. Aaron Comrie injected some pace into the game and with five minutes to go, he set up Wotherspoon but his weary looking effort went well over.
In the end, a draw was a fair result.

.