MacLean sends Saints marching on to victory.
The relief etched across Tommy Wright’s face at full-time told the story.
The Saints manager had watched his side carve out chance after chance against Aberdeen only to blow them all.
But just as it began to look like the Dons fans’ repeated jibes about the absence of Saints’ talismanic former striker Stevie May were right on the money, up popped Steven MacLean to silence them.
His 80th minute winner, a neat finish from 10 yards after a perfect Michael O’Halloran cross, had been a long time coming for the Perth side, who were well worth their victory.
But gaffer Wright admitted that until MacLean’s timely intervention, he feared his team would pay for their wastefulness in front of goal.
He said: “At 0-0 you’re always concerned.
“At that point all it takes is a moment of brilliance from the opposition and you’re 1-0 down. With the quality Aberdeen have that was a worry.
“But I was pleased with how we stuck at it and I’m delighted to have got the result against a squad that I think is the second strongest in the league.
“I think we edged the game on chances with Gary McDonald’s effort in the first half and Steven MacLean hitting the post.
“But we kept at it and we do emphasise that our own squad is important in that. We saw that today with the impact made by players coming off the bench.
“Michael O’Halloran came on for us and was really positive and I was really pleased too with the contribution of Simon Lappin.
“We played at a good tempo, showed quality in our play and created a lot of chances.
“But Aberdeen are always dangerous, they’re a good side, and we had to battle to the end to get the win.”
Indeed, Saints were battling right from kick-off and it instantly put Aberdeen on the back foot.
The Dons, widely tipped as best-of-the-rest contenders, were never allowed to settle into an attacking rhythm thanks to the tireless midfield graft of Chris Millar and Scott Brown.
Willo Flood and Ryan Jack, so often the beating heart of Aberdeen’s resurgence under Derek McInnes, were harried and hassled out of the game.
Niall McGinn, Jonny Hayes and Peter Pawlett, whose pace and trickery has bamboozled the best defenders in the country, were anonymous.
That the Dons’ best effort came from a header by left back Andrew Considine was telling. That it cracked the bar rather than bursting the net was, in the end, to prove decisive.
The other end was much busier, with MacLean striking the post after a latching on to a slack pass-back by Hayes and McDonald scooping wide after a Jamie Langfield blunder in the box all before MacLean made amends late on with the winner.
While his counterpart was able to praise his players’ tireless approach to the game, Derek McInnes cut a frustrated figure at full-time, insisting his team had been the architects of their own downfall.
He said: “It was a very disappointing afternoon, we caused ourselves problems. We got away with a couple and there were enough warnings for us to cut out the sloppiness.
“St Johnstone are a team who always make it difficult. They are well organised, hard-working and play with aggression.
“When you play them you need that bit of quality and I don’t think we had enough of that.”
Enjoy the convenience of having The Sunday Post delivered as a digital ePaper straight to your smartphone, tablet or computer.
Subscribe for only £5.49 a month and enjoy all the benefits of the printed paper as a digital replica.
Subscribe