Cuptie gets big night
Testimonial match for ex-Saint Mackay
Dave Mackay received a standing ovation and guard of honour as he made his return to the McDiarmid Park turf.
St Johnstone’s Scottish Cup winning captain had a night to remember at his testimonial match against Dundee, who ran out 5-3 winners.
Both teams fielded strong starting elevens before former players provided plenty of laughs for the crowd of 1,480.
Neil McCann’s men nudged into the lead in the 10th minute when Jack Lambert’s corner was nodded home by Mark O’Hara.
Saints quickly set about finding a leveller and a neatly worked free-kick found Liam Craig whose strike was deflected wide of the mark.
And then David Wotherspoon drifted in from the left flank to send a dipping attempt narrowly over the crossbar.
Perth players continued to apply pressure on the Dens net as Craig’s free-kick forced a smart stop from Elliot Parish. From the resulting corner Denny Johnstone was left unmarked, six yards from goal, but he directed his header the wrong side of the post.
Despite the pressure Dundee increased their lead in the 29th minute
when Lambert curled low into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.
As the half time whistle approached Sofien Moussa fresh-aired two opportunities. But it was third time lucky for the Tunisian as he headed a Faissal El Bakhtaoui cross beyond Zander Clark.
Dundee introduced the majority of their guest players for the evening at the beginning of the second half.
Rab Douglas, Barry Smith, Steven Milne, Peter MacDonald, Gary Harkins and Stoke City star Charlie Adam all entered the action.
For Saints, Jody Morris, now a youth coach at Chelsea, was hoisted into his familiar position of centre midfield.
And not long after Perth striker Johnstone reduced the deficit with a fizzing 25-yard strike, leaving Douglas with no chance.
The plethora of substitutions continued for Saints with Danny Griffin, Martin Hardie, Paul Sheerin, John O’Neil, Nathan Lowndes, Darren Dods, Frazer Wright and Roddy Grant all coming on.
Fans chanted ‘We all dream of a team of Dave Mackays’ as the man himself made an appearance on the hour mark.
Saints midfielder Murray Davidson then, to the surprise of many, donned a pair of gloves and took his place between the posts for the closing stages.
He could do little to prevent Milne, on for Dundee, from adding a fourth goal with a neat low finish.
Max Anderson added a fifth but the biggest cheer of the night came when Mackay tucked into the corner from the penalty spot.
Keeping tabs on the score was becoming a tough task as Grant rolled back the years to delightfully dink over Douglas for Saints’ third.
*All pics available to purchase by visiting https://stjohnstonefc-ppa.photoshelter.com