Wright way for Saints is focusing on survival

the afternoon as the home side surged forward for another. It could and should have been two to the good for the excellent Dons moments later. Shinnie whipped in a tantalising cross which May nodded against the bar. Mannus then brilliantly denied Christie’s headed effort from the rebound with a reaction stop and all of a sudden chances were arriving thick and fast. A Kenny McLean cross slipped inches wide se v e n minutes ahead of the break before the Dons doubled their advantage. It was another piece of slick and c l i n ical play which s aw Christie slip a pass through for May to exper t ly beat Mannus with a low shot from 18 yards. It was three and easy for the Dons just six minutes after the restart. Andrew Considine crossed from the right for Shay Logan to head down for Stewart. And the on-loan man from Birmingham City, much maligned this season, completed the job from a few yards out.

Saints had again failed to match up with Aberdeen’s runners and they were now looking increasingly demoralised and facing a damage limitation exercise.

Mannus prevented a fourth in 63 minutes with a superb reflex stop from Logan’s header as all the traffic continued to head to the Saints keeper’s goal.

A rare break from the Perth side reduced the deficit in the 68th minute when Liam Craig delivered from the right.

Matty Willock’s header deflected off May on its way into the net and suddenly Saints had some hope.

That was to be extinguished in the 82nd minute as Stewart put a shine on an excellent afternoon’s work.

His stunning left-foot strike from the edge of the box found the bottom corner and a comprehensive result was complete.

The sheer delight on Stewart’s face was clear to see for everyone in Pittodrie as he celebrated his double, after a season which has truthfully been one to forget up until now. Tommy Wright insists survival will be a measure of success for his Saints side after missing out on a top-six spot for the first time in seven seasons.

The Northern Irishman refused to use a poor Pittodrie pitch as an excuse for a 4-1 defeat where he admitted his players weren’t at the races.

Wright said: “I could use that as an excuse but I won’t because we should deal with it.

“The pitch is terrible and we picked a team with two up top because I didn’t think there would be too much football played on it.

“Up to the first goal we probably edged it and we were comfortable. Then we had a crazy five-minute spell where we lost two goals. “We got caught on the counter attack from a free-kick in a good position and then two players collide and we give away the ball. One pass and Steve May is through.

“Aberdeen played well but all four goals were poor. At the third goal we should do