Dundee United boss Thomas Courts was left stunned by superhuman Zander Clark.
The Tannadice gaffer admitted his troops were exasperated after a frustrating loss.
Courts’ team created a host of chances, yet found the St Johnstone No.1 unbeatable.
He said: “I actually said to Benji [Siegrist] when we were walking off. A couple of the players had said it was almost un-human-like.
“We’ve seen Benji do that for us too. We’ve got a keeper who can turn one point into three and I’ve seen Craig Gordon do that, too.
“All credit to Zander Clark for his performance and it gave us an indication for our attacking intent in the second half.
“I think there were two or three moments at the end you could see the exasperation on our players’ faces because they’ve made clean contact and made the right decision, but the big man made a few tremendous saves and kept his team in front so he deserves all the credit.”
The Dundee United boss was in a reflective mood knowing the display was decent despite the outcome and added: “In the first 45 minutes, we seemed to lack a bit of energy and impetus, but we seemed to have the best chances, even then. Our play was too pedestrian.
“But after we made the changes at half time, we started to get on the front foot. We created umpteen chances and it’s just really disappointing we couldn’t get the breakthrough and maybe go on and win the game.
“When Ilmari [Niskanen] and Pete [Pawlett] came on you could see there was a burning desire to do well.
“They gave us energy, intensity and quality and there’s no doubt the half time subs made us fresh impetus.
“For 45 minutes, I think we had them camped in their own half.
“The easy thing to do at half time would have been to feel sorry for ourselves, but our energy levels and desire to get back into the game was obvious for all to see.
“Credit to them, they won just as we did at McDiarmid in a tight game. It’s a chance to regroup and focus on Tynecastle.”
