A point was gained by St Johnstone in Aberdeen to close the gap on second bottom Dundee.
But it came at quite a cost.
Courier Sport highlights two players who have found their form again, the bleak nature of the injury count at McDiarmid Park and a statistical shaft of light.
Anniversary brings injury crisis into focus
It will soon be the first anniversary of Saints’ Betfred Cup final triumph over Livingston.
Nobody who holds the club close to their heart – or indeed those who don’t – needs a calendar reminder of how far they have fallen in the 11-and-a-bit months since Jason Kerr got his hands on trophy number one.
The perilous league position alone does that – and has done for quite some time.
But the latest set of injuries (they don’t even come in ones or twos now) brings into even sharper focus just how severely impacted Saints have been by plain rotten luck on that front.
The starting XI at Hampden on February 28 read – Zander Clark, Shaun Rooney, Jamie McCart, Liam Gordon, Kerr, Callum Booth, Craig Conway, Liam Craig, Chris Kane and David Wotherspoon.
For that team of legends it now reads – injured, injured, available, available, sold, injured, career over, available, injured and injured.
As it stands, Callum Davidson is likely to be only able to pick three of those men when Hearts visit on Saturday.
And, of course, two players who would have been automatic picks of late – Callum Hendry and Melker Hallberg – have also been struck down by the McDiarmid Park injury curse.
I know it goes with the territory for relegation-threatened sides to bemoan their misfortune but this is something else entirely.
The real Jamie McCart and Glenn Middleton
When Saints collapsed into the mid-season break as a broken and dispirited squad, for far too many of their players the distance between the performance level they were capable of and the performance level they had been bringing to match days was cavernous.
McCart and Middleton were high on that list.
They would now be high on a list of players who have responded to the criticism and soul-searching and markedly raised their games.
To my eyes, McCart has played well in every Premiership match since the mid-season break, with the exception of the early minutes of the second half in Paisley.
The Saints backline has a balanced feel about it once more, and the return of his composure and sensible decision-making is a big part of that.
Middleton was a hugely frustrating player in those first few months of the campaign.
The on-loan Rangers forward who tormented the LASK defenders in Klagenfurt was replaced by one who toiled to put his stamp on domestic fixtures, whether that was as a starter or a substitute.
Now there is a body of work to suggest the real Glenn Middleton is back.
🆕 📹| @Glenn_M22 spoke to SaintsTV after our 1-1 draw with @AberdeenFC #SJFC pic.twitter.com/CtahC39pvD
— St. Johnstone FC (@StJohnstone) February 15, 2022
The match-winning assist at Livingston, the impressive first half and run which earned Saints their penalty opener against St Mirren and the part he played in the goal at Pittodrie, as well as a strong all-round display, are solid evidence of a form curve heading in the right direction.
Davidson’s faith in the forward he talked-up as a potential future Scotland international has been restored.
The fact Middleton has started and finished two league games in a row for the first time this season – in fact, the first time EVER as a St Johnstone player – is all the proof needed of that.
One defeat in five
The statistical stick has been used to beat this Saints team.
There was the record-equalling 10 defeats in a row and then, when that was ended, the 12 matches without a win.
And goodness knows how many sub-plots about entries into the box, shots on target and goals scored have been kicked about social media over the last few months.
So it’s only fair that one defeat in five games (in six games if you go by the 90-minute rule) gets a mention.
St Johnstone remain bottom of the Scottish Premiership after being pegged back to a 1-1 draw by managerless Aberdeen at Pittodrie 💥 pic.twitter.com/9tUtZTikqD
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) February 16, 2022
There have been more draws than wins, of course, and that balance will need to change.
But it’s a fair reflection of steady, if unspectacular or season-changing, progress made.
The defence is looking largely secure again, confidence is slowly coming back and, as mentioned above, key players are finding their form.
There’s not enough to get giddy about and Saints remain as reliant on Dundee’s results not drastically improving as on their own accumulation of points.
However, you can see method in Davidson’s strategy of building a Premiership survival bid on a foundation of traditional St Johnstone virtues.
It might not feel like it but the throwing caution to the wind, nothing left to lose stage of the season has not yet quite been reached.
🗣️"A shocking decision, yet again. Genuinely I don't know what it is for."
St Johnstone boss Callum Davidson wasn't happy with the penalty awarded to Aberdeen. Click below to see the incident & comment with what you made of it👇
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) February 16, 2022
Referees and St Johnstone
May I just refer you to last week’s post-St Mirren reflections. Oh, and add Gavin Duncan to the hall of shame.
