St Johnstone failed to make it three wins in a row after letting a lead slip against St Mirren to fall to a 3-1 defeat in Paisley.
New boss, Simo Valakari, saw plenty to like in a first half display that should have yielded more than one Benji Kimpioka goal, which was cancelled out by ex-Saint, Scott Tanser.
And, after St Mirren lifted their performance in the second half, the lesson Valakari wants his team to learn is to be better at finding a way to relieve pressure when it is coming on top of them.
“We could not get out of our opponents’ pressure,” he said, after watching Mark O’Hara and Jonah Ayunga clinch a victory for the Buddies.
“It was corner after corner, long throw after long throw.
“These are the moments we need to do much better. When we’re suffering – how do we get higher up the pitch and keep the ball?
“We were very pleased first half. We tried to do things second half as well.
“We didn’t shy away from responsibility. We scored two goals taken out by the VAR, it took energy out of us as well.
“We’re all hurting from the result. We need to learn and learn quickly.
“When things go difficult for you, it’s even more important we all stick together.
“In these moments, trust in your team-mates and trust in each other.
“There won’t be many games we can dominate all 90 minutes. There’s moments you need to suffer.
“Every throw in, every ball into the box, every corner can be tough.
“The big lesson from tonight is that we need to get out of these moments quicker.”
No complaints
Valakari had no complaints about the two goals disallowed, one for offside and the other for a foul by Adama Sidibeh before he found the net with a lovely finish.
“The Adama one was checked,” he said. “As always, I trust everyone wants to do the right things. I believe VAR was right in that moment.
“We still had time and possibilities to win it.”
Valakari was forced into making one change to his starting line-up, with the injured Andre Raymond replaced by Kyle Cameron at left-back.
Saints picked up where they left off at Dens and scored an early opener that had echoes of Nicky Clark’s dramatic winner.
An eighth minute Matt Smith corner was met by Jack Sanders, whose downward header was finished off from close-range by Kimpioka.
The assistant referee raised his flag for offside but after a three-minute VAR check, the goal was given.
Kimpioka had the ball in the back of the net again midway through the first half – a sweet, low, left-foot strike – and once more it was disallowed.
This time, though, there was no VAR joy as Cameron, who had headed the ball into the Swede’s path, was deemed to be a fraction off.
It was as tight a decision as they come.
Saints had been the better team for the opening half-hour but their lead was cancelled out on 31 minutes when former full-back, Tanser, curled an unstoppable shot on the angle into Ross Sinclair’s top corner.
Sidibeh made it a hat-trick of chalked off goals when he lobbed Ellery Balcombe but VAR official, Alan Muir, was happy with the on-pitch decision to penalise the Gambia international for a foul on Charles Dunne in the build-up.
It was a harsh judgment.
Second half suffering
St Mirren started the second half well and Sinclair needed his crossbar to keep out a Killian Phillips cross that turned into a shot.
On 57 minutes the hosts turned their spell of dominance into a lead.
Kimpioka was dispossessed while trying to get his team up the pitch and a few seconds later, O’Hara got his head to a back post cross from the right and guided the ball beyond Sinclair via a touch off Sanders.
Saints had cause to be grateful for a VAR intervention after Phillips scored a third for St Mirren.
Muir spotted a foul on Kimpioka that McLean had missed.
The visitors had weathered a storm and Jason Holt squandered a good chance to equalise after Drey Wright picked him out at the edge of the box, with the former Livingston man scooping his effort over.
That was the closest they came to grabbing a point and it was St Mirren who made the scoreline more emphatic when Ayunga burst through the middle to make it 3-1 in stoppage time.
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