One less point and St Johnstone wouldn’t have finished in the top six for the eighth time in a decade and wouldn’t now be contemplating a challenge to qualify for Europe.
There have been 10 league draws for Saints this season, plenty of which felt like two points dropped rather than gained at the time.
Eric Nicolson picks out three of them which can now be viewed as decisive in making sure it was the Perth side, not St Mirren, who broke the tape for the split finishing line a fraction in front.
1 Dundee United 1-1 St Johnstone – August 1, 2020
First game of the league season, first game for Callum Davidson as St Johnstone manager and the first point of the campaign.
Going a goal behind and having Michael O’Halloran red carded just before half-time made this a baptism of fire for the rookie boss against a United team still brimming with the confidence a title triumph brings.
On reflection, the significance of this match isn’t just that it was a comeback draw with 10 men (Liam Craig scored a fine goal after the break).
It showed that Saints would be one of the fittest sides in the division, with United toiling to make their numerical advantage count.
And it showed that Davidson had got the players up to speed positionally and tactically as he strived to transition the style of football from the one embedded over several years under Tommy Wright.
Questions would come later about converting chances but dominating the ball was not going to be an issue in the Davidson era.
The back three, and Jason Kerr stepping into midfield in particular, caught the eye.
You could see straightaway that the players were on board with the direction of travel, while the inherited never-say-die attitude was as strong as ever.
2 Dundee United 2-2 St Johnstone – January 12, 2021
This was Saints’ third draw in a row from the end of one calendar year to the start of another.
Nobody was talking about the top six back then.
Sharing the points with Hamilton and Ross County underlined the problems they had in both boxes (creating chance after chance against Accies but failing to score and showing their vulnerability from cross balls in Dingwall where it took a Craig Conway penalty to make it 1-1).
The Tannadice 2-2, though, was a noteworthy occasion.
It was on this Tuesday night Guy Melamed was given his chance to start following Davidson’s admission that the end of summer signing still needed to build up trust with him. The Israeli was partnered up front with Chris Kane. Both scored.
The lone striker system has worked well for Saints this season – most notably in the Betfred Cup semi-final and final – but the two-up-top has been equally, if not more, important as far as the marked upturn in their league form is concerned.
No other combination has been nearly as effective and all six of the Perth side’s Premiership victories in 2021 have been achieved with Kane and Melamed starting.
Melamed establishing the trust Davidson had talked about was a sliding doors moment.
3 Hamilton Accies 1-1 St Johnstone – March 3, 2021
A draw at Hamilton will be remembered as the result that denied St Mirren a place in the top six. A draw at Hamilton should be remembered as the result that kept alive St Johnstone’s hopes of getting there.
Playing the midweek after winning the Betfred Cup was fraught with danger for Saints and, even though they had more of the ball and more chances that evening, there was an understandable drop-off in intensity and craft.
If ever a game had ‘after the lord mayor’s show’ written all over it, this was the one.
The Melamed goal that came out of the blue on 87 minutes (it came from a superb long pass from Liam Gordon to be precise) was so good that it’s only right it had huge consequences.
Kyle Munro’s back post header into the same net that left St Mirren players on their knees was the final act in the top six race but Melamed’s Dennis Bergkamp impression two-and-half weeks earlier was equally important.
ANALYSIS: Top six is St Johnstone’s established place in Scottish football
