The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Wright satisfied with learning experience for youthful Saints
ST JOHNSTONE 0 ABERDEEN 3
St Johnstone might have liked a preBaltics boost but they didn’t get one as Aberdeen ran out comfortable winners in Saturday’s friendly, writes Ian Roache.
Saints fly out to Lithuania this week needing to overturn a 2-1 deficit in the second leg of their Europa League first qualifying round tie against FK Trakai.
With so much work to do on Thursday night, it was understandable that they left out so many first-choice players in this run-out at McDiarmid Park.
The Pittodrie men didn’t reciprocate, however, and their starting line-up was packed full of familiar faces.
Aberdeen took the lead through Adam Rooney – a gift of a goal from home player Jason Kerr – then a Ryan Christie header made it 2-0 just a minute before half-time. Sub Bruce Anderson made it three with just four minutes to go.
Saints had a youthful look to them and making his debut for the Perth men was new signing Callum Hendry, the son of former Scotland captain Colin.
The 19-year-old striker, who was freed by Blackburn Rovers, got the last 10 minutes as a replacement for Chris Kane and manager Tommy Wright was satisfied with what he saw from his new recruit, who has signed a one-year deal at McDiarmid.
“Callum has signed but had to play as a trialist because international clearance wasn’t through,” said Wright. “We are pleased to get him. “He certainly has a good leap on him and probably gets that from his father.
“He is a young player who has had an injury that has probably hampered his career but he is now fully fit and has a chance to make a career for himself.”
As for the game itself, Wright felt it served its purpose despite the scoreline.
The Saints boss said: “It was a worthwhile exercise. Managers will say that the result in these games doesn’t matter but I was disappointed with the first goal and young Jason will learn from that.
“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 after Christie shot 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 St Johnstone but he fired over at the 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.