St Johnstone manager Craig Levein wanted his players to show that their Airdrie horror show was a one-off rather than a lapse into something more concerning.
That they did.
Not only was a point against Aberdeen a good one in their battle to stay in the Premiership, it was also a magnificent show of character given the circumstances.
Twice Saints were the victims of borderline and harsh VAR interventions – to deny Graham Carey an opening goal and to award the Dons a penalty which Bojan Miovski converted.
Lesser teams would have accepted that the footballing gods (or the man in Clydesdale House) were against them.
But Saints picked themselves off the canvas and new recruit, David Keltjens, scored a thoroughly deserved equaliser.
Barry Robson opted for team selection continuity, picking the same starting line-up for the third game in a row.
Levein, by contrast, was searching for answers post-Airdrie and made five changes to his team – the most since he took over from Steven MacLean.
Nicky Clark missed out as precaution, with his groin having tightened after Saturday’s match.
DJ Jaiyesimi, Luke Robinson, Sven Sprangler and Dan Phillips returned and there was a Saints debut for Keltjens.
It was the visitors who found an early rhythm, popping the ball around nicely in midfield.
And on six minutes, Dante Polvara cut inside on to his left foot and forced a decent save out of Dimitar Mitov with his shot from just outside the box.
It would be a stretch to say that Saints started to take control of the contest as the first half progressed but they did a good job of keeping Aberdeen at a safe distance from Mitov.
And there were a couple of half-chances at the other end – both for Graham Carey.
His first effort was a shot on the angle that soared over the bar and his second a better opportunity 20 yards out that was dragged past the post.
Keltjens’ wing-back work was largely about his defensive duties rather than bombing up the right touchline.
But on a rare occasion he was able to push forward he sent over a dangerous cross aimed for Jaiyesimi that Slobodan Rubezic just managed to divert away from the Perth forward.
On the attack after the break
Saints raised the tempo after the restart and thought they’d taken the lead on 49 minutes.
The Dons half-cleared a Carey free-kick and when it came back to him, the Irishman smashed a volley past Kelle Roos at the keeper’s near post.
Celebrations proved short-lived, though, with referee John Beaton told by VAR official, Steven Kirkland, there was a monitor to be watched and the goal was chalked off for Gordon fouling Jamie McGrath as he attempted his clearance.
Losing a goal in this fashion was bad enough but things were about to get even worse just over 10 minutes later.
Again Beaton saw nothing wrong with a Connor Barron corner that came to nothing but Kirkland made himself the most important person in the game once more – this time spotting a Gordon foul on Rubezic.
Beaton made the now familiar walk back to the pitch-side monitor, a penalty was awarded and Miovksi steered it low into the corner past Mitov’s dive.
In between the two VAR incidents, Jaiyesimi twice came close to scoring – a close-range shot that Roos produced the save of the match to keep out and one past the post when he ran on to a ball over the top.
Bounce-back
Saints channelled their fury to find a 78th minute equaliser.
Roos made a bad decision in trying to claim a high Carey cross and Keltjens beat him to it to head into an unguarded net.
Both teams came close to scoring an injury-time winner – Ester Sokler heading straight at Mitov and Max Kucheriavyi hitting the woodwork with a shot from distance.
Player ratings
St Johnstone – Mitov 6, Considine 6.5, McGowan 7, Gordon 6.5, Carey 7.5, Jaiyesimi 7 (Kimpioka, 85), Robinson 7, Smith 7, Sprangler 6.5 (Kucheriavyi, 73), Keltjens 8 (Olufunwa, 90), Phillips 7.5. Subs not used – Richards, Gallacher, May, Turner-Cooke, Franczak.
Saints’ star man – David Keltjens
A goal on his debut and a performance of huge promise.
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