Thursday-Sunday will hopefully be St Johnstone’s new working routine for quite some time.
And if this fast-flowing and relentless performance is anything to go by, it won’t be the hardship that many would make it out to be.
Yes, Saints conceded a late equaliser but the quality of the pass and move football and the number of chances they created bodes well for however long Callum Davidson’s men have European football to juggle with the domestic fixtures.
They ended the match full of running and on top and that was the story of most of the action before that.
Zander Clark made three excellent saves, it needs to be pointed out, however a first half own goal that put Saints in front wasn’t fair reward for their endeavour.
There were five changes to the starting line-up in Istanbul, which contributed to a high tempo start to the match for Saints.
But the first proper chance was a Motherwell one.
Kevin van Veen’s run across the box wasn’t picked up and when the striker was put through by Kaiyne Woolery, he tested Clark’s near post positioning and agility with a quick hit.
Both were on point and the save was made.
That was in the fourth minute and in the eighth it was Saints’ turn to think they could and probably should have scored an early opener.
Ali McCann picked Liam Donnelly’s pocket on the 18-yard line and the ball was quickly moved to Stevie May.
Instead of shooting with his first or even second touch, the striker delayed too long and Motherwell were able to crowd him out.
The most impressive aspect of Clark’s goalkeeping last season was his ability to produce a vital save even when being relatively lightly worked.
Midway through the first half, keeping out a Woolery header low to his right from a Motherwell short corner was a perfect example.
Steve Clarke at McDiarmid
Scotland manager Steve Clarke, at McDiarmid at last to see what all this St Johnstone fuss is about, must have been impressed.
It proved to be the last meaningful contribution he needed to make in the opening 45.
The hosts exerted near total control and played some easy-on-the-eye football while doing so.
Having said that, it was an own goal which broke the deadlock.
Saints had been knocking on the door with a number of dangerous crosses into the box and from one of them, a David Wotherspoon inswinger, Stephen O’Donnell was the unlucky defender to help divert the ball past Liam Kelly.
A 1-0 lead was the least Davidson’s men merited.
Of course, though, it’s a precarious scoreline.
And the Perth goal lived a charmed life eight minutes after the break.
An O’Donnell long-throw was helped on at the near post by Bevis Mugabi, probably hoping to find a team-mate rather than score, but it came back off the post.
Van Veen was the quickest to react to the loose ball and Clark made a stunning reflex save to keep his six-yard shot out.
Glenn Middleton’s reintroduction to the team was a seamless one.
He had been full of running and invention in the first half and less than a minute after the close-call with Mugabi and van Veen, he crossed for May, whose 12-yard volley on the stretch flew over the bar.
Subs make an impact
We were into a spell of home dominance again, with Middleton and Callum Booth both making Kelly work to keep out low shots.
Davidson didn’t want to run the risk of the intensity dropping and with 20 minutes to go he made a double substitution up front – Chris Kane and Michael O’Halloran for May and Middleton.
74' | SJFC 1 – 0 MOTH
Saints dominating play at the moment.
Playing some slick football.#SJFCLive
— St. Johnstone FC (@StJohnstone) August 8, 2021
O’Halloran almost made an instant impact when he was at the sharp end of a slick Saints move.
Kelly was up to the task again, though.
With 10 minutes to go Motherwell got their reward for hanging in.
Steven Lawless picked out ex-Saint Tony Watt with a cross from the right and he had the freedom of McDiarmid to volley home from 10 yards out.
There was nothing Clark, or any other keeper, could do about that. Nor when Callum Slattery and Watt narrowly missed the target with shots to his right after the equaliser.
A Motherwell winner would have been a real kick in the guts for Saints but the home fans didn’t have any more near-things to stress over and Davidson’s side ended the game pinning the Steelmen back to no avail.
