Queen of the South 2 St Johnstone 2: Penalty pain at Palmerston for Saints

dailyrecord.co.uk:

It was pain at Palmerston as St Johnstone’s miserable Premier Sports Cup start continued.The Perth side had fought back twice - thanks to Jamie Murphy on both occasions - for a 2-2 draw.But Queen of the South were very unfortunate not to take all three points in the 90 minutes and there could have been no complaints if that had been the case.Lee Connelly had opened the scoring for the hosts in the first half and that is how the scoreline stood at the interval.A piece of individual talent from Murphy pulled Saints level but Ruari Paton later nudged in from close range.Murphy again hauled Saints back with a delightful curling effort from the edge of the box to send the game to penalties.It was Queen of the South who kept their composure to claim the bonus point.There were three changes to the Perth team-sheet from Tuesday night’s disappointing group opener against Annan.Dan Cleary dropped out completely after his red card while Max Kucheriavyi and Theo Bair, who also started, had to settle for a spot on the bench.James Brown was given the nod from the first whistle on the right of a defensive three and, in a more advanced area of the pitch, Graham Carey was handed his starting debut.

Stevie May led the line.Saints’ trips to this venue have not always gone to plan and the last one, in season 2018/19, required extra-time to eventually edge a 4-2 win.

A few years earlier the Doonhamers had celebrated a 2-0 Scottish Cup triumph.They went closest to boasting an early advantage when a mix-up in the middle of the park between Murray Davidson and Melker Hallberg kick-started the counter-attack.The ball was worked to Paton who, driving into the box, could only find the side-netting with his effort.Saints were forced into a change