Elgin 1 - 3 St Johnstone: Blair Alston stars for Saints

St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright was happy with his team's 3-1 Betfred Cup win at Elgin City but felt it should have been more convincing.

Danny Swanson’s solo goal rewarded Saints’ first-half dominance, with many more chances squandered.

They paid the penalty for poor finishing as Jamie Duff levelled for the League Two side but strikes by Graham Cummins and Steven MacLean in the closing 18 minutes saw the Perth men claim victory.

Wright said: “For it to finish 3-1 was credit to Elgin for the way they defended and the way their goalkeeper played.

“It was a comfortable day for us in the end. But when it’s only 1-0 at half-time anything can happen and Elgin had a moment of quality from a free-kick to get their equaliser.”

Wright singled out his midfield four for praise. “I was pleased with them all today but I thought [Chris] Millar, Swanson, [Liam] Craig and [Blair] Alston in midfield were excellent,” he said. “I think how we retained the ball and passed the ball was really good throughout the game.”

On Alston, pictured, who he signed from Falkirk, the manager added: “He just kept going and he did brilliantly for the third goal [setting up MacLean]. The quality of that goal in particular was excellent.

“We are now in a good position in the group and we will look forward to our first home game against Falkirk next Saturday.”

Saints opened the scoring after 16 minutes when Swanson cut in from the left and curled a low shot into the net from 22 yards.

But the Perth side were stunned four minutes after the break when their hosts conjured up an equaliser out of the blue. Daniel Moore’s 30-yard free-kick was met by the slightest of touches by defender Duff to glance it past goalkeeper Zander Clark.

The top-flight side’s blushes were spared when Millar released Cummins through the middle and he rounded the keeper before rolling home.

Ten minutes from time victory was secured when Alston crossed for MacLean to force home at the near post.