Leaders St Johnstone held by Queens Park despite McPake leveller
St Johnstone were held to a 1-1 draw by Queens Park at McDiarmid Park on Saturday afternoon. Simo Valakari’s side came from behind to earn a point courtesy of Josh McPake’s second-half strike, but the league leaders were left frustrated as they were unable to restore their five-point advantage over Partick Thistle, with St Johnstone now three points clear with five games remaining. The first opportunity of the match presented itself for Queens Park, Seb Drozd tried an ambitious overhead kick in the Saints box, which was far too powerful to cause any harm. Saints produced two good efforts on the 20th minute, Reece McAlear whipped in an inviting ball that was immediately punched away by Queens Park goalkeeper Calum Ferrie, Ruari Paton then let fly from range, whose effort won Saints a first corner of the match, but a poor delivery into the box meant the attack was quickly brought to an end. Liam Smith and Reece McAlear linked up well on the edge of the box for Saints, Josh Fowler would then do well to collect the ball from the cross, his strike went narrowly over the crossbar. Despite some pressure from St Johnstone, it was Queens Park who took the lead in the 32nd minute. Michael Ruth was fouled and won a free kick on the left-hand side, Aidan Connolly’s delivery into the box was met by the head of Euan Murray who headed home to give his side a shock lead against the league leaders. Simo Valakari’s men had several chances to find the back of the net throughout the first half, but they headed into the interval trailing, having only managed one shot on target in the opening 45 minutes. Saints started the second half with real intent and wasted no time in drawing level as they had their equaliser just three minutes after the restart, Sam Stanton played a fine pass out wide to Josh McPake who raced past the Queens Park defence before drilling a low effort past Calum Ferrie to net his 18th goal of the season. Minutes later, Josh Fowler came close to giving his side a quickfire lead, but his header sailed inches wide of the Queens Park goal, a huge let-off for the visitors in the opening stages of the second period. Saints continued to push for a second and were applying plenty of pressure onto the Queens Park backline, this time, Sam Stanton made an excellent run into the box, he was picked out well by Josh McPake, a terrific ball over the top of the Queens Park defence was then controlled by Stanton who had time to shoot, Calum Ferrie was called into action, making a strong save. Queens Park’s attacking opportunities were limited in the second half, with Saints controlling the game for lengthy spells. Josh McPake was a constant threat on the left wing, the league’s top goalscorer was at the centre of every Saints attack. It was a nerve-wracking end to the match for Queens Park who were made to deal with relentless pressure from Saints who were in search of a decisive goal, but in the end, they were made to settle for a point against a resilient Queens Park.
