St Johnstone 3
Ayr United 1
League (Championship)
St Johnstone |
3 - 1 |
Ayr United |
 |
League (Championship) |
 |
| Goalscorers | |
|
Reece McAlear (16) Cheick Diabate (42) Ruari Paton (86) |
Liam Dick (18) |
| Team Managers | |
| Unknown. |
Scott Brown |
| Starting Eleven | |
|
T Steward (G) 1 C Diabate (D) 3 M Foulds (D) 14 J Baird (D) 15 (65) L Smith (D) 33 J Holt (M) 7 (53) J Gullan (M) 10 S Stanton (M) 11 Yellow card J McPake (M) 24 Yellow card R McAlear (M) 42 (71) J Fowler (F) 9 |
Max Thompson Leon King Liam Dick Scott McMann Kevin Holt Jude Bonnar Nick McAllister Ben Dempsey Ben Summers Stuart Bannigan Mark McKenzie |
| Bench | |
|
R Sinclair (G) 20 R Tumilty (D) 2 (65) A Forrester (D) 35 (71) R Paton (M) 18 (53) T Steven (M) 19 K Fotheringham (M) 21 S Mallan (M) 22 L Lloyd (F) 17 A Agyeman (F) 27 |
Liam Russel Shaun Want George Finney Francis Turley Jamie Hislop Lucas McRoberts |
| Substitutions | |
| None. |
George Finney for Nick McAllister (59) Jamie Hislop for Jude Bonnar (59) Lucas McRoberts for Mark McKenzie (88) Francis Turley for Ben Summers (88) |
| Cautions | |
| None. | None. |
| Red Cards | |
| None. | None. |
| Match Officials | |
|
Dan McFarlane (Referee) |
Match Report
Saints extended their lead at the top of the William Hill Championship this afternoon as they defeated Ayr United 3-1 at McDiarmid Park.
Reece McAlear opened the scoring from the edge of the penalty area on 16 minutes, but the opener was cancelled out two minutes later by Liam Dick who headed home Ben Dempsey’s cross.
Cheick Diabate’s header from a Jamie Gullan corner restored Saints lead three minutes before the break. Ruari Paton added the cushion with four minutes remaining as he took advantage of a mistake by Ayr keeper Max Thompson before rolling the ball into the empty net.
The win moves Saints five points clear of second place Partick Thistle who played out a goalless draw at home to Arbroath.
Match report written by St Johnstone FC Web
Squad Statistics (as at February 28th, 2026)
| 2025-26 | All Time | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age | Nat |  |
 |
|
|
|
| Max Thompson (GK) | 21 |
|
5 | - | 5 | - |
| Kevin Holt | 33 |
|
30 | 4 | 30 | 4 |
| Scott McMann | 29 |
|
36 | 2 | 77 | 3 |
| Liam Dick | 30 |
|
27 | 1 | 27 | 1 |
| Leon King | 22 |
|
25 | 1 | 25 | 1 |
| Nick McAllister | 25 |
|
26 | 2 | 136 | 5 |
| Jude Bonnar | 20 |
|
28 | 1 | 28 | 1 |
| Mark McKenzie | 25 |
|
36 | 8 | 229 | 25 |
| Stuart Bannigan | 33 |
|
27 | - | 28 | - |
| Ben Summers | 21 |
|
5 | - | 5 | - |
| Ben Dempsey | 26 |
|
23 | 3 | 149 | 19 |
| George Finney (sub) | 18 |
|
8 | 1 | 8 | 1 |
| Jamie Hislop (sub) | 17 |
|
6 | - | 11 | - |
| Francis Turley (sub) | 20 |
|
1 | - | 1 | - |
| Lucas McRoberts (sub) | 19 |
|
8 | 1 | 12 | 2 |
League Table (as at February 28th, 2026)
| Pld | W | D | L | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | St Johnstone | 27 | 15 | 9 | 3 | 54 |
| 2. | Partick Thistle | 27 | 13 | 10 | 4 | 49 |
| 3. | Arbroath | 26 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 41 |
| 4. | Dunfermline Athletic | 26 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 33 |
| 5. | Ayr United | 25 | 7 | 12 | 6 | 33 |
| 6. | Raith Rovers | 27 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 30 |
| 7. | Morton | 27 | 6 | 12 | 9 | 30 |
| 8. | Queen's Park | 26 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 28 |
| 9. | Airdrieonians | 27 | 6 | 8 | 13 | 26 |
| 10. | Ross County | 26 | 6 | 8 | 12 | 26 |