St Johnstone Women welcomed Livingston to the McDiarmid astro on Sunday for their first home match of the year.
It was a clinical performance from the West Lothian side who started strongly and ran out 7-3 winners.
Ahead of the match, there was good news in the return of midfielder Scarlett Brady from Boroughmuir Thistle and, joining on loan until the end of the season from Dundee United, defender Megan Burns. Both previously played for the side in the 2023/24 season.
Last Sunday it was Saints who made an immediate start, but it was Livingston with Nicole Cairney opening the scoring after just a minute with a finish from close range when the hosts struggled to clear their lines.
Just three minutes later, Livingston doubled their lead. Justine Strain found herself in space to head home a cross from the left for the first goal of her first half hat-trick.
A nice move for Saints saw Lila Aitchison hold the ball up on the left, passing in to Elvie McLean who played a great through ball for Leni Parrish who drove forward into the area with her strike on goal hit the side netting.
With 11 minutes gone, Livingston netted their third when striker Dionne Brown won possession in midfield, and unleashed a powerful strike from distance straight at Bobby Cochran who was unable to stop it and could only watch on as the ball rolled into an empty net.
Strain scored her second when a corner swung into the box dropped at the back post and, doing well to hold off a number of Saints defenders, was able to turn and finish from a few yards out in a congested six yard box.
Despite what the score may have been, Saints continued to play nice passing football and often found themselves deep in the Livingston half. The pressure eventually paid off when Eirinn McCafferty pulled a goal back with a delightful curling effort from the edge of the penalty area in the 41st minute.
Shortly before half time, Strain completed her hat-trick. It appeared that Parrish was fouled in midfield by Jaya Gill, but with the referee seeing no infraction, the ball was quickly moved forward down the left to Strain who was able to cut inside and slotted low past Cochran.
Saints started the second half in much better form than they had in the first; Niamh Irvine forcing Chloe Gibney into an early save for a corner seven minutes after the restart. It was from that corner Saints reduced the arrears when Elvie McLean hooked a ball over Gibney after a bit of a scramble in the box.
Four minutes after that Saints had another goal back. Parrish played an exquisite through ball from the right which Jodie Malcolm latched onto, drove beyond her marker and struck powerfully from just outside the penalty area.
It certainly gave Saints a lift with Lila Aitchison going close from a corner, and Scarlett Brady forcing Gibney into a save with a strike from distance soon after.
Any thoughts of Saints drawing parity were dashed with 20 minutes left when Livingston scored their sixth, Eve Donald capitalising on a loose ball at a corner. With two minutes left, the visitors added gloss to their scoreline when Megan Whiteford’s fine strike into the top corner left Cochran with no chance of saving it.
The last notable action was a last minute McLean strike which Gibney couldn’t save at the first attempt and had to push behind for a corner before it nestled in the back of the net.
Saints are away this Sunday when they make the short trip down the A90 to face Dundee United at Foundation Park with a 3.30pm kick off.
Saints: Cochran, K.Brady, McLean, Malcolm, Irvine, McCafferty, McMillan, Smith, Parrish, Aitchison (Taplin), S.Brady.
Sub not used: Grattan.
