St Johnstone started off the brighter of the two sides and Craig Nelson had to be alert in the Brechin goal to rush off his line and deny Jason Scotland.
However, it was Brechin who opened the scoring after 20 minutes when Darren Smith simply dribbled his way past two Saints defenders before rolling the ball past Kevin Cuthbert and into the corner.
City were now playing the ball around with confidence and nearly doubled their lead five minutes before the break when Paddy Connolly cut in from the right but his shot was well saved by Kevin Cuthbert.
Barely two minutes later Saints came very close to the equaliser when Steven Milne's downwards header took an odd bounce which Nelson just managed to palm away. Just before the break Nelson was once again threatened when he saved a Simon Mensing header while Peter MacDonald's drive a minute later didn't really test the City keeper.
Darren Smith, who was outstanding for City from the start, nearly got his second of the match when he received a pass from Paddy Connolly on the by-line before dancing past a couple of Saints defenders, as well as the goalkeeper, but Kevin Rutkiewicz was on hand to clear ‘smithy's' effort off the line.
St Johnstone created plenty of openings but their reluctance to have a shot cost them as most attacks were fizzled out by the City defence.
Trinidad and Tobago international Jason Scotland saw his shot from outside the box deflect off Davie White for a corner while Andy Lawrie also had a pop from outside the box but his drive flew wide of the goal.
St Johnstone equalised seven minutes from time when the referee awarded Saints a soft penalty when John Ward was adjudged to have taken down Peter MacDonald in the box. Paul Sheerin stepped up and confidently dispatched the ball into the corner to snatch a draw for the Perth side.
This was a much improved performance by City and it was pleasing to see a goal after failing to score in the previous two matches against Montrose and Dundee. City now just have one friendly before the competitive season gets underway a week on Saturday up at Peterhead. Hamilton are the opposition for the final friendly and the game will be played at New Douglas Park on Saturday 29 July with a 3pm kick off.
Brechin:- Nelson (Hillcoat 46), McEwan (Archibald 78), Stuart Ferguson, Ward, White, Walker, Byers, Steven Ferguson (Johnson 68), Smith (Callaghan 73), Geddes, Connolly (Russell 63). Subs not used:- King, Bollan.
St Johnstone:- Cuthbert, Lawrie, Stanic, McManus, Rutkiewicz (Trialist 75), Anderson (Weir 36), Stevenson (MacDonald 36), Mensing, Milne (Jackson 56), Scotland, Sheerin. Subs not used:- Coyle, Barr, O'Brien.