STEVE LOMAS was praying his old keeper Ruud Boffin would chuck one into the net to save St Johnstone.

But in the end the Perth boss was cursing the Belgian for making a crucial save that broke his heart.

Saints waited 13 years for this chance to star in Europe but their return was painfully short-lived as they failed to overturn the two-goal deficit from the first leg in Turkey.

Gregory Tade had the crowd of 6000 dreaming of a showdown with Marseille in the Europa League’s next qualifying round after he fired Saints in front with a goal on his competitive debut.

St Johnstone v Eskisehirspor
St Johnstone v Eskisehirspor

And they had a glorious chance to level on aggregate just after the restart through Nigel Hasselbaink. But the Dutchman was denied by a fine save from Boffin, who worked with Lomas at West Ham.

Just three minutes later Saints paid the price for sloppy defending that allowed Veysel Sari to bag the crucial away goal that killed the tie.

At least Saints continued their 31-year unbeaten home run in Europe but that is scant consolation for crashing at the first time of asking.

In fact, no Scottish club has overturned a two-goal deficit in Europe since Celtic saw off Cologne 20 years ago.

UEFA joint general secretary David Taylor was among the home fans who had hoped to see a historic comeback but with Europe over they must now prepare for the start of SPL business away to Hearts after tomorrow’s friendly against Bristol City.

Lomas made two changes to the side that started in Turkey with fit-again Tade and Hasselbaink adding another attacking threat. With Jamie Adams and Sean Higgins dropping to the bench, it was a positive approach from Lomas.

Big-spending Eskisehirspor boast a budget that far outweighs the Perth side but one man missing from the Turkish line-up was striker Batuhan Karadeniz who didn’t travel after a bust-up with boss Ersun Yanal.

Sari was shown yellow early on after a foul on Liam Craig and Paddy Cregg was lucky not to follow him into Belgian ref Serge Gumieny’s book when he appeared to come down deliberately hard on Hurriyet Gucer long after the Turk had won the ball.

Saints had another escape when the first real opportunity of the game fell the way of Eskisehirspor in 15 minutes.

Rodrigo Tello pulled the strings in the middle of the park and he picked out the unmarked Sari in the box with a fine pass but his header was straight at Alan Mannus who made the save.

Exploded

Clear-cut chances were few and far between at the other end with the Turkish central defenders looking comfortable.

But the hard-working Tade had a sniff when Callum Davidson put him through, although he couldn’t connect properly and shot wide.

However, the Frenchman didn’t give up and 10 minutes before the break he grabbed the goal that exploded this tie into life and again Davidson was the provider.

The full-back showed great determination to win the ball at the byline down the left and he whipped in a brilliant cross to the back post for Tade who headed past a helpless Boffin. It was a goal that didn’t look like coming in a difficult first half but it was the perfect boost heading for the break and Lomas warned his players from the sidelines to stay focused as McDiarmid Park erupted.

Saints stuck to their task and could even have had a second goal when Boffin spilled a Craig free-kick. But the keeper recovered to gather before Alper Potuk was booked for a foul on Hasselbaink.

The home side kept up the pressure after the restart and came agonisingly close to
levelling the tie on aggregate but Boffin rescued the Turks in 47 minutes.

Craig did well out on the left to rob Diego of possession and he burst forward before pulling the ball back perfectly for Hasselbaink but his powerful effort was saved brilliantly by the Eskisehirspor keeper.

It is so often the case that teams are punished when they fail to take chances in Europe and that’s exactly how it turned out when the Turks scored three minutes later to leave Saints with a massive uphill task.

Former Celt Diomansy Kamara broke down the left and skipped past Gary Miller. The Senegalese player’s low cross wasn’t dealt with at all, Mannus eventually getting a slight touch to push it away but only as far as Sari who slotted home.

St Johnstone needed three goals to progress.

And they could and should have grabbed a second when Hasselbaink found Craig inside the box.

The midfielder took a touch and fired towards goal but the outstanding Boffin charged down his effort.

Dave MacKay replaced Miller on the hour mark with Eskisehirspor’s Patryk Malecki introduced for Erkan Zengin but it was going to take a dramatic change in the game itself for Saints to go through to the next round.

The atmosphere around McDiarmid Park started to go flat, with the small band of Turks behind one goal the only fans making any noise.

Saints had chances with Craig fizzing in a free-kick which Boffin touched over the bar.

But in the end they were lucky not to lose on the night when sub Atdhe Nuhiu skewed a shot wide.