Alan Main proved the St Johnstone saviour with two brilliant saves as the Euro hopefuls Saints moved into fourth place in the Scottish Premier Division.

He made two brilliant saves to foil relegation-threatened Aberdeen after George O'Boyle had hit what proved to be the only goal after 19 minutes.

In the first half, Main tipped away a 25-yard effort from Dean Windass and in the last minute of the game, he was at full stretch to turn away a Stephen Glass effort.

The goal came when Gerry McMahon laid off a cross from Paul Kane for Northern Ireland international O'Boyle to hit home from 10 yards.

Following the postponement of the Dundee United v Dunfermline match, this was the only Scottish Premier League game to go ahead and although it was never going to be a classic, both sides had the opportunity to gain something.

St Johnstone are pushing hard for a possible place in Europe next season and Aberdeen looking to ease themselves out of trouble at the bottom of the league.

The outcome of this game was always going to be close though, but the heavy rain and gusting wind made conditions very difficult for both sides.

Teams

Aberdeen: Leighton, Buchan, Whyte, O'Neil, Inglis, Kiriakov, Miller (Dodds 45), Jess, Windass, Rowson, Tzvetanov (Glass 59).

Subs Not Used: Anderson.

Booked: Inglis.

St Johnstone: Main, McQuillan, Preston, Sekerlioglu, McCluskey, Kernaghan, McMahon, Kane, Grant (Jenkinson 85), O'Boyle, O'Neil.

Subs Not Used: Whiteford, McAnespie.

Goals: O'Boyle 19.

Att: 9,022

Ref: J Herald (Newton Mearns).