Kai Fotheringham scored a heavily-deflected winning goal to see Saints past Dundee in a 2-1 victory, but fail to climb into the top six after a highly entertaining game.
The hosts got off to a flying start. A cross floated in from the left hand side by Enes Alic troubled Dundee goalkeeper Owen Goodman, and Josh Campbell got on the end to nod home and give the hosts the lead after just 5 minutes.
Saints continued pressing forward until Bozo Mikulic took a nasty knock to the head on 10 minutes, forcing him off on just his second start since returning from long term injury. Daniel Finlayson was introduced, but the pause in play killed St Johnstone’s momentum, allowing the visitors to express themselves in the game.
Dundee linked up well through the middle on 23 minutes. Skipper Ethan Hamilton, Callum Jones and Alan Forrest played a sequence of passes to one another; the latter drove at the St Johnstone defence, but his effort from distance failed to trouble Ross Sinclair at his bottom right corner.
Just a minute later, the Dundee captain was again involved, stealing the ball off of Saints in their own penalty area and making himself space to turn and shoot on the swivel. This one tested Sinclair, who pushed the ball out for a corner at his near post.
Up the other end, Liam Smith played a neat through ball to Danny Schmidt on the right-hand side, but his effort was blasted wide across the face of goal on 27 minutes.
As the drizzle began to fall, Steven Pressleys side looked to threaten the hosts and had the lion-share of possession. Still, Valakari’s men pushed forward during their spells on the ball. Clearly, both sides looked to try and break each other down and score before half time; neither looked to see out the opening 45.
A big chance fell for St Johnstone in the 42nd minute. Cotterill carried the ball forward vigourously into the Dundee half before laying off to Alic, who fired from the edge of the box on the left hand side, forcing a diving save from Owen Goodman. The Dundee keeper could only parry the ball into danger, but as the ball found Taylor Steven, he sliced at the ball and sent it past the post. Saints took their 1-0 lead into half-time.
Joe Westley, Ryan Finnigan and Zan Besir were brought on by Steven Pressley during the break to try and force the Dark Blues back into the game, and that they did just two minutes in. A clumsy ball over the top was dealt with poorly between Diabate and Sinclair; Westley fresh off the bench closed them down, stole the ball and passed into a practically empty net to level the score.
Spurred on by their equaliser, Dundee dominated much of the first 10 minutes, but in the 54th minute, St Johnstone broke through Kai Fotheringham. He picked up the ball deep in his own half and sprinted the length of the pitch on the left wing, before slotting in goalscorer Campbell who this time could only fire into the side netting.
The first booking came out on 56′, with Steven fouling Hamilton on the centre circle. He was soon replaced by Sam Stanton, while bagsman Josh Fowler entered the fray for Schmidt.
The left-hand side of Alic, Campbell and Fotheringham constantly looked to take the opposition on; Simo Valakari’s side restored their control in the game and constantly posed a threat, especially when those three found the ball.
The former Dundee United winger was involved again as St Johnstone continued to attack. He played a simple pass across to Cotterill, whose 30 yard thunder strike was destined for the top left corner before Goodman got his outstretched hand to it to save well.
In the 72nd minute, a loose Dundee pass across the width of McDiarmid Park caught Imari Samuels out of position, which allowed Liam Smith to drive past him and swing a low, bobbling cross into the box. Josh Campbells poorly-timed effort found the feet of Kai Fotheringham, and he was rewarded for his relentless effort with a ridiculous deflection which saw the ball loop over Goodman and into the back of his net for 2-1.
In the 79th minute, Dundee had the ball in the net once more, as a messy goalline scramble eventually found the right boot of a Dundee player, but the referee blew his whistle for a foul in the chaos of St Johnstone’s penalty box – just as the ball had found the net.
The same happened to the hosts six minutes later. A good piece of compromisation from substitute Sam Stanton allowed the ball to find Josh Fowler. His attempt from around twelve yards out struck a defender on its way to finding Campbell at the back post, however he was adjudged to be in an offside position by the linesman on the far side.
The hosts pressed on. They won a free kick on the left hand side from a deep crossing position, which challenged the Dundee backline enough to see the ball spin onto the roof of the net via a hand from the goalkeeper.
Dundee had a golden opportunity to equalise right on the 90th minute. Yet another scramble in the Saints’ 6 yard box had 3 white shirts stood over it, but amongst miskicks and a soft effort, the ball found itself in the hands of Sinclair.
That was enough to see St Johnstone keep all three points in Perth after a good performance. Dundee United’s 1-1 draw at Tannadice means Saints were unable to climb into the top six of the Scottish Premiership, but close the gap on both Dundee sides who occupy 5th and 6th respectively.
Back to back defeats on the road for Steven Pressleys side will provide much for him to ponder over. They remain in the top half despite defeat this afternoon.
St Johnstone: Sinclair, Diabate, Mikulic (Finlayson 14′), Alic, Smith, Cotterill, Holt, Campbell, Steven (Stanton 59′), Fotheringham (Tait 80′), Schmidt (Fowler 59′)
Dundee: Goodman, Wright (Halliday 87′), Astley, O.Bevan, Samuels, J.Bevan (Besir 46′), Jones (Finnigan 46′), Hamilton, Forrest (Reilly 72′), Hay, Fink (Westley 46′)
