The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Experience for youthful Saints
“We had a very young team out and they will learn from that experience, especially from the first half against the likes of Adam Rooney, Ryan Christie and Kenny McLean.
“It was a really strong Aberdeen side and I was pleased with some of our play and how the players did.
“We just lacked a bit of end product, which is something that is a little bit of a concern.
“But overall it served its purpose from our point of view and we didn’t pick up any injuries.
“Guys like Chris Millar and Murray Davidson needed game time, while Stefan Scougall could probably have done with a wee bit longer but he took a little knock on his ribs last Thursday. It’s not a problem and he got 60 minutes so will be available.”
After a quiet start, Rooney fired over the bar as the visitors carved out the first decent chance of the game on 12 minutes.
Two minutes later, home keeper Alan Mannus had to pluck the ball out of the air at his near post from a tight angle.
Saints troubled the Dons on 18 minutes when a nice move ended with Kane blasting a strike goalwards, which goalie Joe Lewis did well to tip over.
With half-an-hour gone, the hosts squandered a golden chance to take the lead when Kane found himself with a clear route to goal but took a terrible touch that pushed the ball way in front of him and gave Lewis a chance to gather.
Having survived that scare, Aberdeen went 1-0 up on 32 minutes when Kerr made a total hash of a pass back and played the ball into the path of Rooney. With a wee swagger, the Irishman sidestepped both Mannus and Liam Gordon before tapping the ball over the line.
Just a minute before the break, it was 2-0 to the visitors when, following a bit of Aberdeen keep-ball, a Shay Logan cross from the right was headed home by the impressive Christie.
Three minutes into the second half and Kerr almost turned hero for after Christie shot St Johnstone back post.
Aberdeen, who had taken off former Dundee man Greg Stewart for Miles Storey at the interval, made a further nine changes on the hour mark.
Meanwhile, Saints gave game time to Greg Hurst, Keith Watson and David Wotherspoon.
With so many changes usually comes a drop in the quality of the game but sub Anderson kept things lively with a curling shot for the Dons on 69 minutes that wasn’t far away. Jayden Stockley then fired over the bar as the visitors looked for a third.
Keeper Mannus came to Saints’ rescue on 71 minutes when he got his finger tips to a Frank Ross strike and sent the ball spinning away for a corner.
With four minutes to go, Aberdeen went 3-0 and up when sub Anderson blasted a shot in off the St Johnstone bar.
The game then slowly but surely petered out and the Dons went back up the road with the victory. but he fired over at the West Brom have signed Southampton striker Jay Rodriguez for a fee reported to be around £12 million.
The Baggies have long been liked with the 27-year-old England international who made 126 appearances for Saints after joining from Burnley in 2012.
His time on the south coast was interrupted by a serious knee injury which ruled him out for 11 months.