| Only twice in the last 37 years have the Perth Saints lost to St Mirren at Love Street and that statistic was improved upon emphatically.
With 28 minutes gone of the Scottish Cup quarter-final replay, St Johnstone were 3-0 up.
A Billy Mehmet penalty 20 minutes from time pulled it back to 3-1, but, had Paul Sheerin converted a 50th-minute spot-kick, the visiting Saints would have won far more handsomely.
Rocco Quinn, Andy Jackson and Peter MacDonald scored the goals, but every Perth Saint deserves credit for what was a quite brilliant performance.
A beaming team boss Derek McInnes said, “I didn’t buy into the fact we had lost our chance by only drawing the first game at McDiarmid Park.
“I always felt we had a shout of winning the replay here and that’s just what has happened.
“We worked very hard and scored some quality goals.”
Now Rangers or Partick, who play tonight, await the Perth men in the semis next month.
Last night, the 13th minute proved unlucky for St Mirren after Quinn blasted Saints ahead with a superb effort from a Liam Craig cross.
And Craig was again involved when the second goal arrived in the 20th minute, his pass being dummied by Peter MacDonald to send Andy Jackson on his way to his 17th goal of the season.
And MacDonald netted his 50th career goal for the Perth side when he curled home No. 3 on 28 minutes.
So, with a Scottish Cup semi to look forward to, and an outside chance of promotion, the coming weeks will be ones full of excitement for Saints. |
