Aberdeen held to Saints draw

Aberdeen missed the chance to return to the top of the Scottish Premiership table after being held to a 1-1 draw by St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park on Friday night.The home side had the better of the first half and deserved the lead given to them by Simon Lappin on 30 minutes, while David Goodwillie hit the crossbar with a header at the other end.Lee Croft struck the post for St Johnstone after the break before Adam Rooney's stunning long-range strike earned the visitors a point.The result means Derek McInnes' side are behind leaders Celtic on goal difference having played two more matches.Despite the visitors coming into the game as the form side, it was St Johnstone who made an electric start to proceedings and created four openings within the first 10 minutes.Chris Kane was at the centre of their early efforts, forcing Scott Brown into a save after capitalising on a defensive mix-up before winning a free-kick just outside the box moments later, which Lappin flashed just past the far post.Kane was in on goal again in the home team's next attack, dragging his shot wide of the far post after being sent through by Gary Miller. Moments later, David Wotherspoon jinked past Mark Reynolds and fired a shot just over the bar.Aberdeen finally threatened when Wotherspoon, who celebrated signing a new contract this week, delivered a poor pass-back that let in Peter Pawlett, only for the midfielder to be denied by a smothering Alan Mannus save.St Johnstone deserved the breakthrough when it arrived on the half-hour mark. Miller's cross from the right was only half cleared as Wotherspoon challenged for the ball before Lappin arrived at the far post to smash his shot past Brown from close-range.Brown was forced into action again shortly afterwards as he spilled Wotherspoon's long-range shot but reacted superbly to prevent Kane from scoring the rebound.At the other end, Mannus had to get down sharply at the far post to claw out a Niall McGinn effort. In the attack that developed from the resulting corner, the Northern Ireland international turned provider when his cross found Goodwillie, who crashed his header off the crossbar as the visitors made a strong finish to the first half.St Johnstone almost had a crucial second goal within minutes of the restart. The lively Kane slipped a pass through to Croft, but the winger's effort struck the foot of the far post before bouncing to safety as the away defence appealed for offside.That miss proved costly when Aberdeen drew level on 57 minutes. Goodwillie's flick-on found Rooney, who raced on to the bouncing ball and sent in a stunning 25-yard shot that Mannus could only help into the top corner with his fingertips.Both sides were pushing for a winning goal in an entertaining encounter. Kane sliced a presentable chance wide for the hosts after being found by Croft and Brian Easton missed the target after a purposeful run.At the other end, substitute Cammy Smith delivered from the left and an ambitious overhead kick from Goodwillie only just drifted over the bar.Aberdeen were looking the more likely in the final minutes and Smith came close to scoring himself when his diving header fell inches wide of the post following Shaleum Logan's cross.Mannus had to push Rooney's left-footed strike to safety in the visitors' best late effort and Lawrence Shankland hit an effort straight at Mannus.St Johnstone almost won it in the final moments but Brown produced a tremendous sprawling save to deny Michael O'Halloran.There was more drama when O'Halloran's cut-back was somehow missed by Steven MacLean from close-range as an end-to-end encounter drew to a close.