McGINN’S MOMENT WORTHY OF POINT
TONY WATT is St Johnstone’s poster boy, looking down from the buses in Perth as part of a local advertising campaign.
The former Celtic star can do no wrong in the eyes of Saints fans after scoring six times in nine appearances since signing in the summer.
But it was Northern Ireland international Niall McGinn who emerged as the Aberdeen fans’ pin-up as the Dons chalked up a sixth win in their last 11 visits to McDiarmid Park.
McGinn’s magic moment came in the 69th minute when he executed a perfectly struck free-kick to earn Derek McInnes’ side a thoroughly merited point.
A share of the spoils looked increasingly unlikely as the first half progressed, with St Johnstone controlling the bulk of the play.
But the Dons eventually found a way to raise their game, and with Gary Mackay-Steven orchestrating a series of clever moves, they were a much more polished outfit in the second half.
McInnes said: ‘We played far more aggressively in the second half and with a lot more intent.
‘The players deserve a lot of credit because, at 1-0, the onus was on us to get something from the game.
‘We had to step things up and I thought we played at a good pace and tempo after lacking a cutting edge in the first half, when we didn’t ask enough questions.
‘We were okay, but St Johnstone were far more aggressive in the final third. But everyone stepped up their game and we gave ourselves a chance to win.
‘Whether we deserved to win, that would be up for debate, but we got at least what we deserved, thanks to a good bit of quality from McGinn.
‘Niall probably scores one in 40 of them. He’s been close, hitting the bar and the post and keepers making good saves, but it’s always been a trademark of Niall’s, being able to come up with something in those situations.
‘It was a fantastic goal just when we need it.
‘It’s not the result we wanted but we’ll take a point. We’ve got eight players missing and not many teams outwith the Old Firm can cope with that level of injury.’
A mix of slipshod defending and opportunism turned out to be a costly combination for Aberdeen when they fell behind to a David McMillan goal after 13 minutes.
Sensing that the Dons defence was ill-prepared to deal with Liam Craig’s corner from the right side, McMillan lost his shadow, Shay Logan, momentarily, and stole in to power a header from inside the six-yard box past Joe Lewis.
Aberdeen had earlier made a collective protest for a penalty kick when Stevie May took a tumble in the box following a challenge by Drey Wright, but referee Willie Collum was correct to ignore the appeals.
While Aberdeen were short of flair and speed of movement in most areas in the first half, St Johnstone posed a threat whenever they broke quickly.
Not that either goalkeeper was severely tested in a largely uninspiring first 45 minutes.
The closest we came to a save of note was when Zander Clark was called upon to stop a shot from May, albeit the ball was hit directly at him.
Mackay-Steven soon enlivened the second period when he played a quick one-two with McGinn from the latter’s corner kick.
The striker then darted across the defensive line before unleashing a powerful shot which forced Clark to stretch to keep the ball out of his net.
St Johnstone responded with a counter-offensive and substitute Ross Callachan had to hurdle Lewis before going to ground when the goalkeeper reacted quickly to the threat. But, again, Collum appeared to call it right.
Mackay-Steven, clearly buoyed by his earlier effort, forced Clark into another save, this time from distance, before a header from Sam Cosgrove was beaten away as Aberdeen upped their tempo.
With Mackay-Steven in full flight, Blair Alston was forced to bring down the striker a yard or so from the 18-yard line, an action for which he was duly cautioned.
Aberdeen made full use of the resultant free-kick when McGinn fired the ball over the defensive wall and wide of Clark, who may have been partially unsighted, to equalise.
The game had opened up significantly in the second half and Alston threatened to restore the lead for the home side when he raced through virtually unchallenged in the dying moments. But he was thwarted by Lewis when the keeper blocked the midfielder’s shot with his chin.
St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright reflected: ‘It’s a good point against a good side. But we had to work hard for it and there were aspects of the game we could have done better in.
‘But there were also a lot of good things to take out of it. I thought Joe Shaughnessy and Jason Kerr were outstanding.’
Wright also expressed disappointment that so much focus has been put on events off the pitch in recent weeks.
He added: ‘There have been a lot of good things happening in the game this season, so it’s unfortunate we are talking about disciplinary panels and all that stuff.’