St Johnstone vs Dundee: Scottish Premiership updates & match report - BBC Sport

Lyall Cameron scores a penalty for Dundee against St Johnstone — Image caption,
Lyall Cameron signed off at Dundee with a double

Tyrone Smith

BBC Sport Scotland at McDiarmid Park

Manager Tony Docherty insists Dundee "were never losing that game" after his side made sure of their Scottish Premiership survival by beating relegated St Johnstone.

Lyall Cameron marked what would turn out to be his final appearance for the club before ing Rangers with a double. The 22-year-old drilled a crisp low shot into the net just before the half hour, before converting an added-time penalty.

In the end, a draw would have been enough for Dundee to finish 10th, one place above the relegation play-off spot, after Ross County drew with Motherwell.

"We needed to get that result," Docherty said. "I've enormous pride in the players and I think we showed a real strength, a real mentality, a real resilience.

"It's very fitting for wee Lyall. Our last three games, he's scored four goals. His quality is outstanding and he's going to have a fantastic career."

St Johnstone's demotion had been confirmed in midweek and they went out with a whimper in the final game of their 16-year stretch in the top flight.

With their fate sealed and the pressure off, the home team started with a real freedom and went close when Makenzie Kirk's flicked effort went over, before Dundee defender Clark Robertson deflected a Taylor Steven cross over his own bar.

The visitors did settle into things, though. Cameron in particular began to exert a real influence, curling a long-range shot just wide.

But he wasn't to be denied on 27 minutes as he netted his 13th goal of the season, much to the delight of the large travelling .

Like in the first half, St Johnstone made a decent start to the second, with Kirk firing an angled shot into the side netting shortly after the interval.

But also like the first half their early promise fizzled out.

Dundee thought they had doubled their advantage when Scott Tiffoney slotted the ball under goalkeeper Ross Sinclair and into the net, but his effort was correctly ruled out for offside.

St Johnstone were rarely seen as an attacking force as the half wore on, but an Adama Sidibeh shot that went just wide served as a reminder to Dundee that there was still work to do.

The away fans were cheering late on as news of County's 1-1 draw with Motherwell filtered through, a scoreline that further eased any flickering fears they may have had that their team could yet end up in a relegation play-off with Livingston.

And the three points were sealed when Cameron converted from the spot after Graham Carey had fouled Ziyad Larkeche.

Bigger picture the focus for St Johnstone

It is the bigger picture that will be occupying the minds of the St Johnstone faithful and they will hope it won't be long before they are back at the top table.

Manager Simo Valakari has received the backing of the board and he will certainly be doing his utmost to make sure they return to the Premiership at the first attempt.

While that will be the main objective, the bigger goal at the club will be trying to find a way of halting what has been a gradual decline in recent times.

A lot of people have had their say, and offered their take, on what has gone wrong at the club since their remarkable domestic cup double four years ago.

The causes are likely multi-faceted but will need to be addressed soon to ensure a the desired rapid response.

Dundee can address concerns with survival secure

With survival secure, the inquest into how Dundee got themselves embroiled into such a battle can begin.

Having been promoted from the second tier, they impressed in the Premiership last term, finishing sixth.

This has been a strange campaign - when they are on it, they have proved they are a match for anyone. The problem has been they haven't been on it often enough.

A team bursting with goals has too often been undone by a porous defence.

It is important to point out, though, that this is the end of what is only Docherty's second season as a manager in his own right. It is perhaps unsurprising that there will be ups and downs along the way.

But the fans will be hoping the lessons learned from the past few months can put them back on a good footing to be challenging higher up the table next season.

What they said

St Johnstone manager Simo Valakari: "The quality was not there. That's how it has been and now we need to change that, make it better to be successful. We need to raise the levels and it comes through the hard work.

"From the start, we are the club who came down from the Premiership. We should be a favourite but it's up to us to be this favourite.

"Now it's even more pressure on us. You want to bounce back and it requires a different type of mentality."

Dundee manager Tony Docherty: "I don't want to be a manager of a team that's sitting in the bottom six. When the time's right, we'll reflect fully on it.

"There has been inconsistency there. We need to recruit well but the players that have been in there and will be moving on, I need to thank them for what they've done for the club.

"The ones that are here, we need to kick on for next year's campaign."

Related topics

2nd Phase Championship Group

Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Goals For	Goals Against	Goal Difference	Points	Form, Last 6 games, Oldest first
1 Celtic	38	29	5	4	112	26	86	92	No Result Result Win Result Draw Result Win Result Win Result Draw
2 Rangers	38	22	9	7	80	41	39	75	No Result Result Draw Result Draw Result Win Result Win Result Draw
3 Hibernian	38	15	13	10	62	50	12	58	No Result Result Loss Result Win Result Loss Result Draw Result Draw
4 Dundee United	38	15	8	15	45	54	-9	53	No Result Result Loss Result Loss Result Loss Result Loss Result Win
5 Aberdeen	38	15	8	15	48	61	-13	53	No Result Result Win Result Loss Result Loss Result Loss Result Loss
6 St. Mirren	38	14	8	16	53	59	-6	50	No Result Result Draw Result Win Result Win Result Draw Result Draw

2nd Phase Relegation Group

Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Goals For	Goals Against	Goal Difference	Points	Form, Last 6 games, Oldest first
1 Hearts	38	15	7	16	52	47	5	52	No Result Result Loss Result Win Result Win Result Win Result Win
2 Motherwell	38	14	7	17	46	63	-17	49	No Result Result Win Result Win Result Loss Result Win Result Draw
3 Kilmarnock	38	12	8	18	45	64	-19	44	No Result Result Win Result Win Result Win Result Loss Result Loss
4 Dundee	38	11	8	19	57	77	-20	41	No Result Result Win Result Loss Result Loss Result Draw Result Win
5 Ross County	38	9	10	19	37	65	-28	37	No Result Result Loss Result Loss Result Loss Result Draw Result Draw
6 St. Johnstone	38	9	5	24	38	68	-30	32	No Result Result Loss Result Loss Result Win Result Loss Result Loss

Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Goals For	Goals Against	Goal Difference	Points	Form, Last 6 games, Oldest first
1 Celtic	33	26	3	4	97	22	75	81	Result Win Result Win Result Loss Result Win Result Loss Result Win
2 Rangers	33	20	6	7	68	35	33	66	Result Win Result Loss Result Win Result Win Result Loss Result Draw
3 Hibernian	33	14	11	8	54	41	13	53	Result Win Result Win Result Draw Result Win Result Win Result Win
4 Dundee United	33	14	8	11	41	40	1	50	Result Loss Result Draw Result Loss Result Win Result Win Result Win
5 Aberdeen	33	14	8	11	45	49	-4	50	Result Loss Result Draw Result Draw Result Win Result Win Result Draw
6 St. Mirren	33	12	5	16	45	54	-9	41	Result Loss Result Loss Result Draw Result Win Result Loss Result Win
7 Hearts	33	11	7	15	43	44	-1	40	Result Win Result Loss Result Win Result Loss Result Loss Result Draw
8 Motherwell	33	11	6	16	37	56	-19	39	Result Win Result Win Result Draw Result Loss Result Loss Result Draw
9 Kilmarnock	33	9	8	16	38	58	-20	35	Result Loss Result Loss Result Draw Result Loss Result Win Result Loss
10 Ross County	33	9	8	16	33	56	-23	35	Result Loss Result Win Result Loss Result Loss Result Loss Result Loss
11 Dundee	33	9	7	17	50	71	-21	34	Result Loss Result Draw Result Win Result Loss Result Win Result Loss
12 St. Johnstone	33	8	5	20	33	58	-25	29	Result Win Result Draw Result Draw Result Loss Result Win Result Loss

Key

Position 1, 2 : UEFA Champions League Qualifiers
Position 3 : UEFA Europa League Qualifiers
Position 4 : UEFA Conference League Qualifiers

Last Updated 18th May 2025 at 17:00

Key Events

St. Johnstone

Dundee

Live Reporting

Bigger picture the focus for St Johnstone

Dundee can address concerns with survival secure

What they said

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Scottish Premiership Scores & Fixtures

Sunday 18th May

Scottish Premiership Table

2nd Phase Championship Group

2nd Phase Relegation Group

Key

Team Lineups

home team, St. Johnstone

Pitch Formation

Starting lineup

Substitutes

home team, St. Johnstone

away team, Dundee

Pitch Formation

Starting lineup

away team, Dundee

home team, St. Johnstone

Pitch Formation

Starting lineup

Substitutes

away team, Dundee

Pitch Formation

Starting lineup

Substitutes

Match Officials

Match Stats

Overall possession

Shots

Shots on target

Total touches inside the box

Goalkeeper saves

Fouls

Corners

Advanced match stats

AttackAttack

Shots

Shots on target

Shots off target

Blocked shots

Attempts out of box

Total offside

DefensiveDefensive

Total tackles

Won tackles

Fouls

Total yellow cards

Total clearances

Headed clearances

Duels won

Errors leading to shots

DistributionDistribution

Total es

Accurate es

Backward es

Forward es

Total long balls

Successful final third es

Total crosses

Touches

Touches in the box

Dispossessed

GoalkeeperGoalkeeper

Goalkeeper saves

Diving saves

Saved shots from inside the box

Saved shots from outside the box

Keeper throws

Goal kicks

Punches

Season so far

Goals scored

Form guide