A FIRST unpalatable league result of the season, then, for Livingston supporters to chew over as they exited the Tony Macaroni Arena.
Only Motherwell, in the Betfred Cup, had previously left here with a victory during the opening three-and-a-half months of the campaign and now St Johnstone have the honour of being the first team do so in the league, something that had previously proven beyond the reach of Kilmarnock, Hibernian, Hamilton, Rangers and Dundee.
It also signalled a first defeat for manager Gary Holt and he conceded his team had not performed to their usual high standards.
“The boys are gutted at losing their home record in the league but I’ve told them to take on board the taste of how that feels,” he said. “We can’t start as sloppily as we did and give an opponent a goal of a start.”
The win keeps recent St Johnstone momentum bubbling along, this was their third victory in succession and all without conceding a goal.
“Livingston have had a great start to the season and we matched them up to show them the respect they deserved,” said manager Tommy Wright. “I think we competed for everything which we had to do. Not too many teams would show the character we have done the last three games.”
The only goal of the game arrived within the opening five minutes, offering early promise that this was going to be an evening awash with chances and talking points. And while the match ticked along at a decent pace throughout and neither side could be accused of stinting in endeavour, the anticipated glut of goals never materialised.
That was a situation that suited St Johnstone just fine after they had worked their way in front. The mercurial Tony Watt was at the heart of it, meandering his way into the Livingston penalty area before pulling what looked suspiciously like a mishit shot across the face of goal.
Matty Kennedy was the beneficiary of Watt’s work, thudding his shot past Liam Kelly from around six yards before swaggering away with his trademark Conor McGregor-style celebration.
The early goal eroded any prospect this may have been a cagey affair as Livingston, normally so obdurate and resolute in defence, looked to atone for that rare lapse in concentration.
St Johnstone, though, would not wilt. When Livingston finally created a scoring chance of note after 35 minutes, the goalkeeper stood strong to repel Scott Pittman’s low zipped drive from around 12 yards.
The visitors rarely looked under any real pressure as the game wore on, a long-range effort from substitute Craig Sibbald that dribbled past the post the closest Livingston came to salvaging their unbeaten home record.
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