Young Saints sunk by Ross’s solo effort

ABERDEEN 1 ST JOHNSTONE 0

St Johnstone and Aberdeen’s second strings kicked off their competitive season with an Irn Bru Cup clash as they squared up at Glebe Park, Brechin.

Changes to the competition rules meant up to two over-age players could feature and Saints fielded Callum Hendry and Ally Gilchrist while Dons coach Paul Sheerin included Scott McKenna in his starting line-up.

The Dons dominated the early possession without threatening. Seb Ross did well to charge down a clearance then break into the box but his inviting cross couldn’t pick out a red shirt.

Hendry, son of former Scotland star Colin, had a couple of openings for the visitors but shot wide on both occasions while Harvie was inches too high with a free-kick for the Dons.

Thomson was booked for a clumsy foul on Frank Ross who responded by firing a 30-yard effort just wide.

Ross opened the scoring four minutes from the break, finishing off a 60-yard run with a fine shot from 15 yards.

McCann was booked for a foul on Ross but Harvie’s header from the resulting free-kick didn’t test the Saints keeper.

Just after the hour a period of sustained Saints pressure ended with Craddock producing a wonder save to deny Gilchrist.

Saints pair McCann and Ballantyne were booked as the Perth side battled for an equaliser but Anderson nearly grabbed a second for Aberdeen, his shot drifting narrowly wide.

Both sides huffed and puffed but struggled to create any clear openings and frustration got the better of Dons striker Anderson who was booked for kicking the ball away.

McLennan and McClean were also cautioned as Aberdeen held on to win.