Worse than horrible, but Livi level late to prolong Perth pain
Fitzwater (89) ST JOHNSTONE 1 Middleton (75)
Livi boss David Martindale joked that fans might have demanded a refund after this stalemate.
But he was probably being unduly harsh as the sides served up a thrilling finish at the Tony Macaroni Arena.
With normal time almost up and Saints leading 1-0, Jason Holt’s cross was headed on, and although keeper Zander Clark made a reflex save, defender Jack Fitzwater was lurking and rammed home the equaliser.
That leaves Livingston in pole position to finish ‘best of the rest’ in seventh place. They are now three points clear of Hibs and St Mirren with two games remaining.
Premiership survival is the more urgent aim for St Johnstone after yesterday’s other results almost certainly spared them automatic relegation but shunted them into a play-off with either Arbroath or Inverness Caley Thistle.
“We were five or six points behind Dundee in January,” noted manager
Callum Davidson. “We obviously wanted to get up to 10th place and safety, but we haven’t been able to do that. This club has no divine right to be in this league, but we’re absolutely desperate to stay in it.
“We didn’t play at all well last week, but we were better today and we want to put in a good performance against Aberdeen so that we can carry better form into the play-offs.”
Martindale added: “That game was horrible, wasn’t it? Was it even that good? The fans could have asked for their money back, but I’m just glad there were two goals because it had 0-0 written all over it all day long.
“We looked a wee bit lethargic, on and off the ball, but we started better in the second half and wee Odin Bailey should have scored. The game could have petered out at 1-0, but we changed to 4-4-2 and we got our just reward with Jack’s equaliser at the end.”
In a week of dramatic late finishes, fans were almost treated to an explosive start yesterday when home striker Joel Nouble scuffed his shot wide after the ball had fallen kindly for him just 12 yards out.
Sixty seconds later, the visitors launched a lightning counterattack and it required a full-length save from Ivan Konovalov to keep out Stevie May’s low right-foot drive.
Two clear-cut chances in the opening three minutes set a high standard for the teams to live up to, and sadly they were unable to prevent the match from transforming into a scrappy war of attrition.
Nearly half an hour elapsed before the next decent opportunity as Bailey’s shot was deflected for a Livi corner.
Nouble’s mazy run created another chance for Andrew Shinnie on the edge of the penalty area, but Shinnie panicked and pulled his finish wide of the Saints goal.
May was making a nuisance of himself at the other end of the pitch, tangling with defender Ayo Obileye before winning a soft free-kick which Melker Hallberg blasted into the wall as half time approached.
Bailey really ought to have opened the scoring for Livingston early in the second period when he was sent clean through, but keeper Clark stood his ground and blocked Bailey’s shot with his legs.
Home sub Alan Forrest then fired inches wide barely two minutes after coming on, and the feeling grew that it might not be Livi’s day.
That nagging doubt became reality in the 75th minute when Saints subs James Brown and Glenn Middleton combined to put the visitors ahead, Middleton scoring at the back post.
That looked enough to give St Johnstone all three points, but they were to be denied by yet another late twist.