St Johnstone claimed a potentially HUGE three points in their fight against relegation at Livingston.
A late Ali Crawford strike secured the Perth side’s first win since October 30 after a performance defined equally by fight and finesse.
A Callum Hendry header put Saints ahead in the 11th minute and, in the aftermath, they looked every inch a side capable of lifting themselves out of the Premiership drop zone.
They were pegged back by a moment of quality from Alan Forrest, which put Livi’s equaliser on a plate for Bruce Anderson.
Despite finding themselves under pressure in the second half, Saints never stopped fighting – and were rewarded in the last minute when Crawford popped up to stab home Glenn Middleton’s cross.
They may only be off the bottom of the league on goal difference – but that could prove to be huge psychologically, especially with a number of new recruits still to see action.
🔵⚪️ Tonight's starting line up
Here is our team to take on @LiviFCOfficial
Come on you Saints!#SJFC pic.twitter.com/0tv0T6HWTt
— St. Johnstone FC (@StJohnstone) February 1, 2022
Callum Davidson brought in eight new faces in January, but only two were given starts at the Tony Macaroni.
Dan Cleary, who has looked comfortable on the right side of the Perth gaffer’s preferred back three, retained his place in defence, while midfield capture Melker Hallberg was trusted with a midfield berth next to Jacob Butterfield and Ali Crawford.
Up top, Stevie May came in for the injured Nadir Ciftci to partner Callum Hendry.
A perceived lack of adventure both on and off the field has been a point of mounting frustration for Saints fans in recent months.
The strong backing afforded to Davidson in the transfer market since the New Year, albeit arguably five-to-six months later than required, has gone some way to soothing supporter irritation business-wise.
But the manager’s apparent reluctance to “tinker” with his starting XI, despite having been fully stocked with new recruits, looked, pre-match, like a decision that risked ramping up the pressure around performances.
Making sure new players who may not have played competitively for weeks – or even months – are fully prepared for the rigours of first team football is solid reasoning for employing a protective approach.
But with precious points required – and precious little recent evidence of them being winnable in sufficient quantities – fans could have been forgiven for gazing at Davidson’s team sheet with a degree of concern.
Instead, they were given an early glimmer of hope when May latched onto a loose pass just inside Livi’s half and, with Hendry peeling off to the far post, set out for goal.
The striker made it to the edge of the home side’s box but Ayo Obileye timed his covering run and challenge perfectly to deny further progress.
May almost profited from another moment of Livi sloppiness inside 10 minutes when an attempted Jack Fitzwater pass trundled comically towards goal and struck the post after hitting the Saints man.
This time, keeper Max Styjek was there to mop up the danger.
But Livi’s goal was living dangerously – and with Hallberg’s composure in midfield allowing Saints to build in possession, they took a deserved lead in the 11th minute.
The Swedish midfielder was in the thick of the move, spreading possession wide left before the ball was worked back to the right, where Cleary had taken up an advanced position.
The defender looked up before launching a perfect ball into the box for Hendry, whose terrific, unsighted, looping header beat Stryjek to send the visiting fans wild.
In the aftermath, Saints settled into a controlled rhythm for a spell.
With May and Hendry pressing from the front – and Hallberg and Crawford following up – Livi found it difficult to string passes together.
But a moment of magic from January Perth target Alan Forrest helped drag David Martindale’s side back into the game.
The wide man had been quiet early on but, after collecting possession 10 minutes before half-time, turned on the afterburners, hit the by line and squared perfectly for Bruce Anderson to tap in an equaliser from close range.
Having looked as comfortable in a match as they had in many months, Saints had coughed up their advantage.
But while Callum Davidson’s “more of the same” approach has irked some supporters this season, the hope offered by aspects of Saints’ first half performance looked to justify it at half-time in West Lothian.
Quickly though, Livi – inspired by Forrest, who looked a man possessed – were soon on the front foot and the wide man himself almost notched the home side’s second after breaking onto his left foot, only to see his rasping effort deflected wide for a corner.
Forrest came within a whisker again just minutes later, this time curling a stunning free kick towards Zander Clark’s top left corner that the Saints stopper did brilliantly to tip over.
Despite a run of back-to-back corners, the visitors were struggling for the fluency they found in the first half and Hallberg was withdrawn for Murray Davidson with 20 minutes remaining.
A tiring May followed Hallberg off the park 10 minutes later, with Glenn Middleton added up top.
Saints never stopped scrapping to keep Livi at bay.
And at the death, was Middleton who set up Crawford to bag Saints’ last-gasp winner after he squared from wide right.
Teams
Livingston: Stryjek, Devlin, Fitzwater, Obileye, Penrice, Holt, Omeonga, Bailey (Chukwuemeka 64), Pittman (Shinnie 70), Forrest, Anderson (Nouble 80).
Subs not used: Maley, Boyes, Lewis, McMillan, Montano, Kelly.
St Johnstone: Clark, Cleary, Gordon (Mahon 61), McCart, Brown, Hallberg (Davidson 71), Butterfield, Crawford, Booth, Hendry, May (Middleton 80).
Subs not used: Parish, Gallacher, Sang, Craig, Gilmour, Hector-Ingram.
