Delight with Dykes despite missed spot-kick
Livingston boss Gary Holt refused to blame spot-kick sinner Lyndon Dykes for his side’s failure to win in Perth.
Dykes fluffed his lines from 12 yards when his 90th-minute penalty was saved by Zander Clark.
It was a day of missed opportunities for Holt’s men who saw a 2-0 half-time lead wiped out by a stirring Saints comeback. Holt said: “Lyndon Dykes was exceptional. I feel sorry for the big guy.
“It is the 90th minute and it wins the game if he scores.
“I feel sorry him but I was screaming ‘smash it’ from the sidelines.
“I am sure Lyndon wants it back to smash it but that is the way that football goes in this league.
“It takes guts to step up and take the penalty in the first place and I am never going to criticise somebody for missing a spot-kick.
“We could have won it last week against Motherwell and this week we should have won it against St Johnstone.
“We have to be ultraprofessional when we are 2-0 up at half-time.
“You can’t give them a route back into the game
“You know they are getting a rocket from Tommy.
“He is not going in there and being nice to them.
“If you give a team a goal back then the crowd lifts and we were all over the place.
“At 2-0 you have to be Expertly swept home a clinical finish for the opener and set up Lawless to make it 2-0 just before the interval.
Was denied a second goal by a fine stop from Clark which would have rounded off a fine afternoon. Was undoubtedly the star of the show. 8 professional, clinical, don’t take risks and play percentage football.
“Keaghan Jacobs did not mean to under-hit the back pass but sometimes in the heat of the moment it happens. It is part of the learning process.
“For the neutral it was an enjoyable and entertaining game of football.”