Tommy’s on a high as his super Saints stun Dons
St Johnstone floored Aberdeen with two secondhalf sucker punches to cap a perfect few days for boss Tommy Wright.
The McDiarmid Park gaf fer celebrated signing a new deal until 2022 and being named manager of the month for November by guiding his side to three points at Pittodrie.
Skipper Joe Shaughnessy and Blair Alston scored the goals that made it eight game without defeat for his slick Saints side.
That saw them pull four points clear of the Dons, who looked jaded after losing the Betfred Cup Final to Celtic last Sunday then beating Rangers at Ibrox on Wednesday with 10 men.
Wright beamed as he said: “It has been good and we’ve broke the Manager of the Month curse as well.
“It’s a great way to finish off a good week personally and a good week for the club.
“Away wins are always nice and this place is always difficult to come to – I think Aberdeen had won their last five games at home.”
The Dons looked buoyed early on by their midweek win over Rangers but they were powder-puff in front of goal with Stevie May unable to punish his old team, despite an early effort which flashed across Zander Clark’s goal.
Joe Lewis had to produce acrobatics at the other end to brilliantly deny Matty Kennedy as alarm bells rang in the Pittodrie defence. Saints keeper Clark wasn’t really tested until the 63rd minute and
he proved more than a match for Lewis Ferguson’s thunderbolt strike from the edge of the box.
The Perth side then took control and eight minutes later Shaughnessy’s bulleted back-post header from David Wotherspoon’s corner on the left flew into the net to leave the Dons players and their fans stunned.
Aberdeen were reeling on the ropes and just three minutes later super sub Alston, on in the midfield engine room for Ross Callachan just a few minutes earlier, landed the knockout blow.
It was a breathtaking strike from 25-yards as the Dons defence opened up and offered him the chance to go for goal.
Wright was full of praise of the impact made on the game by the Saints substitute.
He said: “Blair changed the game. He has given us fresh legs and that impetus, that bit of quality.
“He gets the corner for us for the first goal and then he scores a wonder goal for the second.
“When we go to 2- 0 up we’re good at seeing games out and that’s just what we did again.
“It’s pleasing because clean sheets win you matches, they’re important, and that’s what I said to them before the game today.
“There were parts of the second half we weren’t happy with but we stayed at 0- 0 and because Aberdeen were desperate for three points the crowd can change a little bit.
“So staying at 0- 0 was key because in the second half we did give away too much possession to Aberdeen.”The Perth side has finished in the top six four times in the last five years and are on course to do so again.
They might have thought things weren’t going to go their way in a first half when the Reds pressed them hard, looking to add three more points to those they pocketed at Ibrox.
But centre-backs Andy Considine and Scott McKenna knew they were in for a tough afternoon as Saints’ front men Tony Watt and Kennedy looked dangerous on the break.
But they didn’t really worry Lewis much and, being unbeaten against St Johnstone in their last four league meetings, there was an air of confidence about the Dons, especially as the Perth outfit had lost 7-1 on aggregate from their two Premiership visits to Pittodrie last season.
Now, fifth-placed Saints can prepare for the visit of Motherwell next Saturday boosted by their stunning current form.
Wright added: “We simply need to keep doing what we’re doing.
“If we do we wi l l be difficult to beat and we can be a handful for teams at the other end of the pitch.
“The ones above us in the top four keep winning as well.
“We would probably have been in a higher position than we are just now in previous seasons but it is nice to be on the coat tails of teams at the top.
“To have 28 points at this stage is an excellent return and we’ve had 20 points from the last 24 which is an incredible return. “The players have been magnificent. “They have a way to go to beat the Scottish Cup-winning side but maybe we can get top six again this year.
“That would be a great achievement as for once I agree with the experts who say that there is only one place up for grabs in the top six this season because of the strength in depth of the big five clubs.”
CONSIDINE 7 LOGAN 7
WRIGHT 5 BALL 6 SHINNIE FERGUSON 6 MAY 5 WATT 6 KENNEDY 6 WOTHERSPOON 6 CALLACHAN 5 CRAIG 6 DAVIDSON 6 TANSER 7 FOSTER 7 SHAUGHNESSY 7 KERR 7