Saints’ late despair as Dons sneak win

ST JOHNSTONE 0 ABERDEEN 1: Hedges hits 84th minute winner

It was late elation for St Johnstone at the weekend and late despair for them last night.

The Perth side went down to an 84th minute Ryan Hedges goal as Aberdeen emerged from their mini-shutdown to secure their first victory of the season.

The least Saints should have got from this contest was a point but a deflected strike at one end and a lack of creativity at the other cost them even that.

Manager Callum Davidson said: “We worked hard as a team and limited Aberdeen to few chances so I was really pleased with that.

“In the first half we moved the ball well but the one criticism was the lack of quality in the final third.”

Davidson continued: “I was happy with the way we pressed and the discipline we showed.

“Aberdeen defended well and we could say it was poor balls into the box, but I won’t criticise them too much for that.

“I don’t get too high with wins and two low with defeats.

“I would be in a worse mood if we played badly and got beat but there were good signs there.”

He added: “It was unfortunate with the deflection but we should be stopping it at the source.

“Aberdeen can make good changes and bring good players on, but we limited them to very few chances.

“I was pleased with the overall performance.”

Davidson is hopeful that Stevie May and Chris Kane will be available for the visit of Hibs on Sunday.

Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes said: “The character, resilience and effort of the team was outstanding.

“I couldn’t be more proud of them. I knew how much they wanted to get a result tonight.

“Getting that first three points of the season gets you up and running because the longer you don’t get it, the more it becomes an issue.

“It came off Liam Gordon’s heel but if you drive in and they sit as deep as that then you can get those moments.

“It was a worthy goal because we spoke about it and told them to get their shots away.”

The Dons manager told the BBC: “In light of everything, the stop-start nature of our campaign, just getting up and running, it was all about getting that first win no matter how you get it.

“It’s a difficult place to come, they set up to frustrate and counter-attack. That said, we know we can do better.

“We were too slow, but restricted them to one shot on target. Delighted to come away from a tough venue with all three points.”

Picture: SNS. Aberdeen’s Ryan Hedges celebrates his winning goal as the Dons emerge from their mini-shutdown by winning in Perth.