FORFAR ............ 0 DUNDEE UTD...1
Goodwin not happy despite Fraser’s late clincher for Buds 2
RELIEF Fraser roars after winner, inset, but boss Jim, right, was not happy
MARCUS FRASER sent the Saints marching into the Scottish Cup last eight – but couldn’t save his side from an ear-bashing from their manager.
Jim Goodwin was delighted to see off stubborn Inverness thanks to his skipper’s lastminute winner and keeper Jak Alnwick’s heroics.
But he was less than chuffed that the Championship men ran them so close.
St Mirren hit the woodwork FIVE times – but Goodwin still felt the Paisley side were lucky to sneak through after coming from behind with Kristian Dennis cancelling out Nikolay Todorov’s opener.
He said: “We lost to Motherwell last week and I was happier with that performance.
“We knew tonight was going to be difficult. These games against opposition in
MICHAEL GANNON AT ST MIRREN PARK the leagues below can be very tricky because of the level of expectation is on us as the Premiership team.
“We definitely left it late, there’s no doubt about that. We hit the woodwork a couple of times as well.
“I could list all the things that we did wrong but I’d rather congratulate Inverness on their performance.
“They were excellent from start to finish and Jak Alnwick was far too busy for my liking.
“It could have been a game that finished 5-4!
“But I’m delighted that we’re on the right side of the result. It’s another quarter-final to look forward to.”
Saints dumped Aberdeen and Rangers on their way to the League Cup semi-finals and Kilmarnock or Montrose stand between them and another Hampden show.
Goodwin said: “We’ve given ourselves a great chance to get back to Hampden which is the most important thing.
“If we go all the way nobody will care too much about this performance.”
Goodwin wasn’t joking about it ending 5-4.
It was so end-to-end at times you could have swapped the goals for basketball hoops as the chances piled up right from the off.
Alnwick made a series of superb stops from Daniel Mackay, Todorov and an even better one as he diverted Scott Allan’s drive on to the post.
Inverness were shading it but Saints were sniffing around too with Ilkay Durmus not far off with an overhead kick and Dennis hitting the bar before the break.
Todorov struck first when he met Allan’s corner flush on the volley at the back post after 47 minutes.
But the lead lasted barely two minutes as Jamie McGrath teed up Dennis to bury it from just inside the penalty area.
It was the Buddies turn to pile on the pressure and Mark Ridgers clawed away Jon Obika’s low rocket and Durmus and Dennis hit the woodwork.
Todorov and Allan went close as Caley responded but when Obika clattered the post with barely a minute left, Brandon Mason squared the scraps and Fraser galloped in from nowhere to score.
There was still time for another scare as sub Shane Sutherland took aim at the death but was just off target.