St Johnstone secured their place in the top six for the third season running with this comprehensive 2-0 win over 10-man Hibs.
The victory was also the perfect tonic for manager Tommy Wright who is recuperating in Perth Royal Infirmary after having gall bladder surgery.
Before kick-off, Courier columnist and Winter Olympic Bronze medallist Eve Muirhead came out onto the pitch to receive the acclaim of the fans.
Saints survived a couple of early scares, the first self-inflicted when Frazer Wright headed back to his own goal, forcing keeper Alan Mannus into making a superb save, then Hibs’ Danny Haynes hit an angled shot just wide.
Just after the first quarter, St Johnstone came mighty close to taking the lead when a David Wotherspoon cross was headed goalward by Stevie May with Hibs keeper Sean Murdoch pulling off a great stop. Gary McDonald followed up as the ball broke but the keeper blocked for a corner.
Wotherspoon whipped the ball in again and this time, the keeper failed to gather with Steven MacLean gleefully bundling the ball home at the second attempt to give Saints the lead in the 17th minute.
The home striker should have doubled his side’s advantage in the 28th minute when he had the goal at his mercy but he spooned a close-range effort over the bar.
Saints had another superb chance just before half-time when Wotherspoon hit a bullet header from six yards out but Murdoch dived to his right to produce an outstanding stop.
Eight minutes after the restart, St Johnstone had another gilt-edged opportunity when Gary Miller whipped in a cross from their right with May stealing in to bullet a header at point-blank range but it was too straight at Murdoch who blocked.
However, Saints did finally capitalise in the 54th minute when Michael O’Halloran burst into the Hibs box with his cut-back hitting off the unfortunate Ryan McGivern and into his own net.
The Edinburgh side’s afternoon became even worse shortly after when Haynes was shown a straight red for a petulant stamp on Wotherspoon.
The scoreline was only kept at a respectable level for Hibs thanks to further vital stops by Murdoch and the woodwork when a Michael Nelson “clearance” smacked off his own post.