St Johnstone 1 Burnley 3

11:01am Thursday 24th July 2008

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OWEN Coyle enjoyed a winning return to former club St Johnstone as Burnley rounded off their three-game tour of Scotland.

Martin Paterson scored the opener and made the second, but his evening ended in frustration as the Clarets’ record signing was instructed to leave the field after disputing a refereeing decision 10 minutes into the second half.

Although referee Stephen Finney was unhappy with the outburst over a throw-in, common sense prevailed as he allowed the 21-year-old to be substituted, paving the way for Latvian striker Gatis Kalnins to make his second appearance on trial moments later.

But Paterson had done enough in the 55 minutes he was on the pitch to contribute to back-to-back friendly wins, with Alex MacDonald adding a late third – his first senior goal.

The Clarets, who drew 1-1 with Queen of the South on Saturday before winning 1-0 at Partick Thistle on Monday, tinkered with the 4-3-3 formation previously utilised in this pre-season campaign as Robbie Blake started to the left but just behind a front two of Ade Akinbiyi and Paterson.

And it proved effective almost immediately.

Blake received a free kick from just outside the Burnley penalty area on the left and quickly switched play to find Wade Elliott on the opposite flank. The winger duly picked out an unmarked Paterson, who cushioned a header into the far corner for his second goal in three friendlies with just 10 minutes on the clock.

But it took just 90 seconds for St Johnstone to get back on level terms, after Paul Sheerin benefited from a lucky break.

Gavin Swankie’s initial shot was firmly parried by Diego Penny, but the Peru international was powerless to prevent his excellent stop bending into the path of Sheerin, who sidefooted in the Scottish First Division side’s equaliser.

Coyle predicted that the trip to McDiarmid Park would provide Burnley with the toughest test of their games north of the border, particularly given the advanced stage of Saints' pre-season. And so it proved as the home side took advantage of a smooth surface to work the ball forward neatly in what was their one and only home friendly before their new campaign begins on Saturday.

Penny was given little time to recover after being unfortunate to concede and was quick out of his area to head away a potential chance for Peter MacDonald as the ball bounced awkwardly 20 yards out. Swankie picked up the rebound and looped it back towards goal, but Penny had got back to his line to watch it drop over the bar.

Kevin Rutkiewicz then saw his shot on the turn flash narrowly outside of the right post.

But it was Burnley who reclaimed the upper hand through a well-worked goal.

Paterson was in on the act once more as he collected Steven Caldwell's firm header out of defence and clipped the ball into the box to meet Akinbiyi's run. Goalkeeper Euan McLean knew little about it as the striker stole in to slip the ball beyond him just after the half-hour.

In typical pre-season fashion, substitutions were made at regular intervals throughout the second half, including that of Paterson, while Chris McCann had been withdrawn three minutes after the break after taking a knock.

St Johnstone enjoyed the better chances as they searched for a second equaliser. Swankie fired an early effort straight at Penny, who did well to keep out substitute David Weatherston's shot from inside the area nine minutes from time, while another substitute, Steven Milne, had dragged a shot wide across goal at the end of his mazy run moments earlier.

Saints, who begin their campaign and defence of the Challenge Cup at Ross County on Saturday, continued to press and in doing so failed to make allowances for a Burnley break.

Joey Gudjonsson swept the ball out to Steve Jones on the left and the hard-working MacDonald was lurking with intent to make certain of the win.

BURNLEY: Diego Penny; Michael Duff, Clarke Carlisle, Steven Caldwell, Christian Kalvenes; Wade Elliott, Chris McCann, Alan Mahon, Robbie Blake; Ade Akinbiyi, Martin Paterson.

Subs: Graham Alexander, Stephen Jordan, Joey Gudjonsson, Steve Jones, Alex MacDonald, Gatis Kalnins, Besart Berisha, Adam Kay.

Sub not used: Brian Jensen.