Saints 1-0 Hartlepool United

Saturday 22nd July

Saints made it three friendly wins in a row after defeating English side Hartlepool United this afternoon 1-0 at McDiarmid Park.

Steven MacLean scored the only goal of the game after just 11 minutes. The St. Johnstone number 9 headed home from trialist Romain Habran's deflected cross.

Chris Kane almost scored with three minutes remaining to double the lead but in the end Saints ran out comfortable winners.

Next up is a friendly away to East Fife next Saturday with a midday kickoff.

MATCH REPORT

St. Johnstone made 7 changes from their mid-week behind closed doors win at Rangers bringing Foster, Tanser, Anderson, Gordon, Wotherspoon, Davidson and MacLean in for Easton, Kerr, Shaughnessy, Comrie, Alston, Craig and Kane against their National League side opponents.

Saints got the first half underway.

The first chance of the game came for Saints who grabbed it with both hands, Romain Habran was played down the left wing and looked up to play a cross which was slightly deflected by the defender but fell perfectly for Steven MacLean who headed it into the back of the net. 1-0 to the Perth men.

After 25 minutes and some ruckus in the box Wotherspoon managed to get a shot off through several bodies but the Pools keeper, Scott Loach, held well.

Soon after and Steven MacLean played an inviting ball into the box which was miss headed by Munns and fell to Habran again who attempted an over head kick but couldn't get quite enough power in the shot and went straight into the keepers arms.

Steven MacLean was again involved in the action for Saints as he found himself on the edge of the box in space and firing a shot which the Hartlepool keeper did well to punch away.

On the brink of half time a Stefan Scougall corner was passed out to Richard Foster who crossed it into the box which found Liam Gordon who got enough power but just couldn't guide it on target.

Hartlepool got the second half kicked off.

On 53 minutes a blocked shot by Scougall was deflected back to Richard Foster who blasted the ball towards the bottom left hand corner but the effort hit off the leg of one of the Hartlepool defenders and bounced away.

Trialist Habran was replaced by Blair Alston on 58 minutes and was applauded off the pitch by a very impressed McDiarmid Park crowd.

Mannus did well to tip a 20 yard Deverdics free kick over the bar.

Scougall whipped in a delightful ball into the box but the ball just had too much pace on it and Paton, waiting at the back post, couldn't connect as it went out for a Hartlepool goal kick.

With three minutes remaining, and after two shots were initially blocked by the Hartlepool defence, Chris Kane smashed the ball goal-ward but the trialist substitute keeper was there to clear it all of two yards before the ball went out of play for a goal kick.

Overall it was a comfortable 1-0 win for St. Johnstone who continue their pre season friendlies with a trip to East Fife next Saturday with a 12pm kick off. Saints' next home match will be in the league when Motherwell visit McDiarmid Park on Saturday 12th August.

St Johnstone: Mannus, Foster, Tanser (Easton 45), Anderson, Gordon, Wotherspoon (Craig 45), Paton, Scougall, Trialist (Habran) (Alston 58), Davidson and MacLean (Kane 45).

Unused subs: M. Hurst, Shaughnessy, Millar, Kerr.

Hartlepool United: 1 Loach (Trialist 58), 2 Magnay (Trialist 70), 3 Adams (Travers 70), 5 Harrison, 7 Donaldson (Hawkins 70), 8 Munns (Mondal 58), 9 Cassidy (Amond 45), 14 Woods (Featherstone 62), 17 Deverdics, Laing, Newton (Richardson 70)

Unused subs: Catterick

Goals: MacLean (12) Bookings: 0 Referee: Euan Anderson Attendance: 1,117

Match Report written by Hannah Klatschak

Post match reaction from Tommy Wright: