St Mirren are left to rue missed chances as Perth ‘sinners’ hold on for a draw

The Perth Saints did make it 11 games unbeaten on their visits to St Mirren but the circumstances surrounding the 1-1 draw made it feel more like a victory after they were reduced to nine men.

They made a fine start and captain Murray Davidson powered in a header to give them the lead but the visitors were then put under immense pressure as the Paisley side chased their third consecutive home win.

The Perth men did not help their cause with the two red cards.

Stevie Anderson was first to go shortly before half-time when he tripped Lewis Guy and denied him a goalscoring opportunity. The visitors faced a second half onslaught and then picked up a second red card when Chris Millar, already on a yellow, collected a second booking for tripping John McGinn.

Danny Lennon’s men took less than a minute to equalise when 18- year-old Paul Dummett lashed home his first senior goal.

It was a rearguard action after that and the heroes for St Johnstone were all at the back with Alan Mannus producing a couple of incredible saves and Frazer Wright’s superb goal line  clearance denying Steven Thompson a winner five minutes from time.

With Steve Lomas banned from the touchline, St Johnstone assistant boss Tommy Wright was in the dugout and reflected on the result. “You would be proud of any team that’s down to nine men and holds on to get a result – it was truly magnificent” he said.

The assistant boss shared out the plaudits across his team despite Mannus’ heroics in the last 20 minutes. “Our keeper’s done really well but he would be the first to admit that the guys in front of him have done a terrific job.”

“It was the busiest game I’ve had here,” confessed Mannus, who made two outstanding saves to deny John McGinn and McLean.

Not surprisingly St Mirren manager Danny Lennon was left downhearted. He said: “It is definitely two points dropped. We showed a fantastic tempo from the start and I was disappointed to go one down so early but we always took the game forward.

“We were on the front foot and created a number of opportunities but their keeper has had some fantastic saves.

“We have to be absolutely ruthless in front of goal and you can’t expect to give up chances like that and win games. It was an absolute disservice to the fans not to win a game like that.”

Lennon, though, took some positives from the game.

“The flipside is the chances we are creating and the bodies are hungry enough to get on them, we just need to finish these chances off. “

St Johnstone have little time to rest and have to do without Anderson for their Scottish Cup tie with Cowdenbeath tonight after the original game was postponed due to bad weather.