The St Johnstone players had their heads in their hands at full-time on Saturday after a crushing late, late defeat to Celtic.
But the message from inside the home dressing room would have been to hold them high when they made their way home from McDiarmid Park.
The Perth men made last season’s league champions, and this season’s league leaders dig very deep to leave with full points.
Courier Sport picks out three talking points from a captivating afternoon.
Context
Saints fans haven’t been used to seeing their team performing like this against Celtic in the Premiership for a while.
Last year’s home game when the Hoops came to town was a one-sided, dispiriting, damage limitation contest when a team in freefall was on the cusp of being broken up.
In 2020-21, two narrow defeats were played out in front of empty stands, and Celtic averaged four goals per game for the six league fixtures before that under Tommy Wright.
You have to go back to May 2016, when Steven MacLean and Graham Cummins were the goalscorers in a 2-1 victory, for home celebrations.
#OnThisDay in 2⃣0⃣1⃣6⃣… Steven MacLean & Graham Cummins scored as Saints came from behind to beat Celtic 2-1 at McDiarmid Park. 😇
📺 Highlights: https://t.co/cbR4FBjG81#OTD | @StJohnstone pic.twitter.com/WwNgmnVeZu
— SPFL (@spfl) May 11, 2020
That a Saints equaliser in this latest match came as absolutely no surprise says everything about the performance level.
As St Mirren showed a couple of weeks earlier, the first half against a Celtic side of this quality is for hanging in there, and the second is for being bolder if the game hasn’t got away from you.
That Saints fans seemed to be as enthused about this display, perhaps more so, than the three wins their team have put on the board speaks to the historical context of matches against Celtic and the power of a courageous attempt to deny them a win.
For the players there should an ‘if we can do it against them, we can do it against anybody’ mentality that now kicks in.
And for supporters, it should confirm that this is a team and squad worthy of their emotional investment.
In the long run, that will be far more important than a draw and a point.
Wee Max takes his chance
After his form in pre-season – and his manager’s public appreciation of his training ground work since then – it was a mild surprise that Max Kucheriavyi didn’t make his first league start for St Johnstone before Saturday.
The form of Graham Carey and Jamie Murphy, then a change in set-up from one up top to a partnership, are the two biggest reasons.
A half-attacker, half-midfielder role coming off the right would appear to be his best position at the moment.
Another tweak of formation saw Kucheriavyi given a chance in the widest right slot of a midfield three on Saturday and it was to his credit that he looked at home in this company.
Kucheriavyi STARTS! https://t.co/IdAW1aHnhx
— TryzubFootball (@TryzubFootball) October 8, 2022
In the hour the young Ukrainian was on the pitch, opportunities to influence the game in the final third were scarce.
But the most impressive aspect of Kucheriavyi’s contribution was his positional awareness, defensive work and ability to pick the best option with a pass.
There were several occasions when his football brain ensured he was in the right place to snuff out a Celtic threat.
Davidson already knows he has a player capable of the creative and the extravagant.
He now knows he has a player he can trust to keep his discipline under extreme pressure in a position a bit deeper than his favourite one.
Kucheriavyi can expect plenty more starts before this season is over.
Should Drey Wright have done more?
It wouldn’t have taken long for hindsight to kick in.
If Wright was physically capable to do it, taking a step to his right and kicking the ball off the pitch then hitting the turf will have been the sliding-doors scenario going through his mind all weekend.
UNBELIEVABLE!! 🤯
After St Johnstone equalise in injury time, Giakoumakis goes the other end and scores the winner for Celtic!! pic.twitter.com/SscALgQWWq
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) October 8, 2022
But let’s not go overboard.
I dare say there are a few of his team-mates who would have responded differently and a few who wouldn’t.
Wright is a converted winger, whose instincts aren’t that of a 1970s midfielder who would rather hobble about a pitch with a broken leg than put his hand up to be taken off.
And he’s a very good converted winger, whose contribution to making this St Johnstone team a far more effective passing unit than last season’s shouldn’t be underestimated.
That injury-time moment won’t define Saints’ season and it won’t define Wright’s.
Conversation