If Steven MacLean had written the final chapter of his St Johnstone career himself he couldn’t have come up with a better ending than this.
Captaining the side on his last appearance ahead of a summer move to Hearts, the 35-year-old scored a hat-trick before being substituted to a standing ovation from the travelling Saints fans.
It was both a reminder of what a class act he has been in his time at McDiarmid Park and what the Perth club will miss when he’s gone.
He opened the scoring just after the half-hour with a precise header from a Richard Foster cross and his second came five minutes before the break – a side-foot finish after excellent work by George Williams and Matty Willock.
In between, Steven Anderson had also got on the scoresheet to make it 3-0 at half-time.
On 56 minutes MacLean got his toe to re-direct a David Wotherspoon shot past Trevor Carson for Saints’ fourth.
Motherwell pulled a goal back on 78 minutes when Gael Bigirimana followed up a Ryan Bowman shot that came back off the woodwork but it was Saints who had the last word when substitute David McMillan scored his first Saints goal – a diving back-post header – to make it 5-1.
