Simo Valakari was over the moon with the performance that earned St Johnstone a hard-fought draw in Aberdeen.
But the Perth manager felt his side could have easily been heading back down the A90 with three points.
Makenzie Kirk gave Saints a first half lead after profiting from a James McGarry mis-clearance to slam home from close range.
In the aftermath, Valakari’s side held the Dons at bay well, despite having to operate with a makeshift defence, while retaining an attacking threat of their own.
After Leighton Clarkson’s equaliser early in the second half, Aberdeen turned up the pressure.
Even so, a solid-looking Saints side held them at arm’s length, and had two excellent chances to win the game, first when a Nicky Clark drive bobbled around the six-yard box before being claimed by Dons keeper Ross Doohan, then at the death from a 20-yard free-kick, which Graham Carey could only curl wide.
Valakari felt his side’s showing was a mark of the progress they have made over the last few months.
So much so, he admitted to a tinge of disappointment that they hadn’t won the game.
“We played very well today.. We played extremely well. ” he said.
“The only thing we have been talking about with the players is: we compete, we perform, we try to play as well as possible – the results will come.
“So do we feel disappointed to only get one point? Maybe.
“But I’m so pleased about the performance from our players – how they work with the ball, how they work without the ball against a top side that is playing in front of their own fans.
“We looked solid – and I liked that.
“There was a moment when we needed to defend and we defended ugly in some moments, but there were some moments when we played good football with the ball in difficult conditions.
“We created, I think, even more chances than the opponent to get something.
“So, again, a performance like this gives the platform, the foundation, that the results will come, so I’m very pleased about that.”
Valakari’s plans for the match were scuppered minutes before kick-off when Bozo Mikulic pulled up injured in the warm-up.
In his place, Kyle Cameron was drafted in alongside Jack Sanders at centre-back.
Matt Smith returned to the starting line-up after back-to-back games as a substitute.
The Saints boss had to reassure Smith in midweek after the midfielder sought a conversation over his place in the pecking order.
His answer was emphatic.
And deed followed word at Pittodrie, with Smith preferred alongside Sven Sprangler and Jason Holt in the middle of the park, with Nicky Clark deployed at the tip of Valakari’s preferred diamond formation.
The Finn’s other change came at left-back where, after Andre Raymond joined Barry Douglas in the McDiarmid Park treatment room, Drey Wright was deployed, with Lewis Neilson stepping into his vacated right-back slot.
Saints’ first chance came in the eighth minute, when Smith picked out a clever ball forward to Benji Kimpioka, who nutmegged his defender and strode towards goal.
Unfortunately for the Perth side, the Dons defence was able to get back and crowd out the breakaway after Kimpioka picked out Holt, who was outmuscled, with the ball claimed by Dons keeper Ross Doohan.
With Aberdeen enjoying the lions share of possession on their own patch, Saints dropped deep to make life difficult for their hosts in and around.
However, they remained a clear threat on the break and, after a neat move on 25 minutes, the superb Clark picked out Smith, who fired in a cross towards Kirk.
Dons defender McGarry looked certain to handle the danger, but his attempted clearance cannoned comically off his own face and straight to Kirk, who lashed past Doohan to give Saints the lead.
As the home crowd grew restless, Neilson came within a whisker of doubling the Perth side’s lead just after the half-hour when his cushioned volley pinged off the crossbar.
Saints had to weather a storm of Aberdeen possession before the break, although clear-cut chances were few and far between.
In contrast, some of the passing football conducted between the likes of Sanders, Neilson, Sven Sprangler, Jason Holt, Smith, and Clark in particular was lovely to watch.
Having been booed off at half-time, a response from the Dons was to be expected.
It only took 10 minutes after the restart for it to arrive, when Clarkson arrived at the perfect time to prod home a Duk cross, who had hit the by-line and cut the ball back after finding himself one-v-one with Neilson.
Smith, having shone in the first half, was withdrawn just after the hour mark, with Adama Sidibeh thrown on in his place.
Josh Rae was called into action as pressure mounted on the Saints rear-guard, parrying to safety a Duk effort aimed at his far post.
But it wasn’t one-way traffic. And when Kirk won a free-kick in the right wing area, the resultant cross saw a Sanders header cleared as far as Clark, whose drive was saved, then bounced enticingly around the six yard box before it was claimed by Doohan.
As the wind and rain swirled around Pittodrie, Saints had to hold firm at the back, which they did successfully, before earning their own chance to turn one point into three at the death, when Graham Carey stepped up in injury time to try his luck from a free-kick.
He curled it high and wide to ensure a share of the spoils that St Johnstone will enjoy as much as Aberdeen will resent.
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