Two-goal Morgan is the spice of life for Buddies
JACK ROSS last night hailed supersubs Lewis Morgan and John Sutton as the gamechangers who fired St Mirren into the quarter-finals of the William Hill Scottish Cup.
The Paisley side were locked in a 1-1 stalemate against East Fife before Morgan was brought on in the second half.
And the speedy winger made an immediate impact when he banked two goals to put the Buddies in the ascendancy before a late penalty made the final score 3-2 in Methil.
The win against the League One side guaranteed the Buddies a money-spinning home tie against Celtic in the draw made last night.
Ross said: “There is always go- ing to be frustration for those who don’t start games but the reaction today was excellent.
“Lewis has played a lot of games this season and he has contributed a lot to us. He has been a bit up and down lately but he has tremendous pace and is a threat from wide areas and he showed that today with his two goals, left and right foot.
John Sutton came on and massively to get us up the pitch . He is disappointed as well that he hasn’t started the last couple of games so that was the catalyst for us.
“The boys showed good character The game became more stretched in the second half and it suited us.”
Cammy Smith had fired the Buddies ahead before half-time but Chris Duggan’s penalty levelled matters in the second half.
The Morgan came on to play his part in a win over a team that was on an 11-game unbeaten run.
Ross also praised his team’s bottle when the Fifers equalized – especially as the Saints face a relegation dogfight in the Ladbrokes Championship.
THE Buddies manager said: “They are going to have to show that character in every game we have left of the season because of the situation we are in.
They will need to find that mental strength as a group.
“We have been telling them constantly they re good player but they have to find that themselves.
“It would have been easy for the game to go the other way when we conceded the equaliser. But they showed good character to get the win.”
St Mirren are now turned their focus to next Sunday’s Irn-Bru Challenge Cup home clash against Welsh Side All Saints while all thoughts of avoiding the domestic drop are out on the back burner.
And Ross is looking forward to taking on a different kind of opposition.
He told the club website: “It should be an exciting week for us. The build-up to the Scottish Cup tie was good.
“The reason we are in the competition is to win the cup. And it will be the same with the challenge cup next week.
“Next week is another step closer to that. There is a freshness around it as well with it being different opposition.
“Hopefully we can maintain our belief and give the fans something to cheer about.”