St Johnstone 1-0 Aberdeen: Hosts avoid automatic drop with Aberdeen win
- Published
Callum Hendry's eighth goal since returning to St Johnstone sank Aberdeen
St Johnstone avoided automatic Scottish Premiership relegation and consigned Dundee to the Championship by beating Aberdeen in Perth.
The hosts bagged the only goal when Callum Hendry, a former Aberdeen loanee, caressed home on the counter.
Glenn Middleton came close to a second and Shaun Rooney spurned a huge chance as Aberdeen struggled to create.
St Johnstone meet Inverness Caledonian Thistle or Arbroath to decide who will occupy next season's top tier.
The Championship duo contest their play-off semi-final second leg on Friday, after Tuesday's opening encounter ended goalless. The match will be live on BBC Scotland.
Though St Johnstone are now six points clear of Dundee in bottom spot, they are five behind Aberdeen with one round of fixtures remaining.
"It's been a real tough slog since January," said manager Callum Davidson. "We're coming out of it, playing with a lot more confidence, back to the style of play we're looking for.
"Inverness and Arbroath are two very good teams and they'll be two really tough games, whoever goes through. It's up to us to put them under as much pressure as we possibly can."
Hendry left St Johnstone for Kilmarnock on loan in September last year. Callum Davidson called him back in January as their season unravelled apace and goals became desperately rare.
Since returning to Perth, Hendry has scored eight goals in 15 games, one third of St Johnstone's paltry league total.
His finish here was excellent, as Davidson's men exploded on the counter. A long ball down the right was grappled under control by Melker Hallberg, who toed through for Middleton. Hendry swept the winger's low ball neatly beyond Joe Lewis.
Middleton had Lewis stretching soon after when he won and unleashed a rasping free-kick from distance. At the other end, Lewis Ferguson squandered two half-chances with his head, and Connor Barron, a beacon of light in a gloomy Aberdeen campaign, bobbled one wide.
The second half was a clumsy maelstrom of fouls, errors and niggle. St Johnstone were content with what they had but continued to push for a second. Aberdeen looked short of energy and accuracy, a team with nothing but pride to play for.
Rooney should have sickened them further early in the second half, galloping completely untracked on to a well-placed corner. The wing-back had only to nod into the net, but skewed his header just wide.
In the end, it mattered little. A point would have been enough to keep St Johnstone clear of Dundee - three leaves them six clear heading in to the final round of fixtures. Their job is not done, though. They must rouse themselves to go again.
Man of the match - Glenn Middleton
Middleton, right, laced a game of poor quality with rare flourishes of class and incision
What did we learn?
St Johnstone's doggedness has never been in doubt. Plenty of the cup double-winning heroes of last season remain.
They continue to suffer the consequences of poor recruitment, an inability to replace those who left, and a meek bluntness in front of goal. Hendry could prove their saviour.
Aberdeen look like a team who want the season to end. Jim Goodwin has won two of 11 games since succeeding Stephen Glass - just enough to keep his team from the drop zone, but he knows major summer surgery is required.
Barron continues to impress, and it was heartening to see highly-rated 17-year-old Liam Harvey given a debut off the bench.
Their chronic failure to turn neat and tidy midfield possession into chances and goals was underlined again, though. With 70% possession, they mustered two efforts on target and three corners.
What they said
St Johnstone manager Callum Davidson: "Concentration levels were great tonight. We switched off against Livingston [in Saturday's 1-1 draw].
"We learned our lessons, played the ball forward and spent the last five minutes in the corner instead of under pressure."
Aberdeen manager Jim Goodwin: "We dominated the ball and had two or three times the number of passes but those stats don't matter. The end result matters most.
"We were in complete control and one ball over the top of our backline and the ball is in the net. When the ball comers across the face of goal, it is really, really poor defending. There's no getting away from the numbers - this team has conceded far too many goals."
What's next?
St Johnstone end the regular season away to Hibernian on Sunday (12:00 GMT) before their two-legged shootout for top-tier survival the following week. Aberdeen host St Mirren at the same time.