Ruthless Aberdeen end the cup dream
Craig Ritchie
St Mirren’s Scottish Cup dream descended into a nightmare as ruthless Aberdeen proved a cut above.
Gary Mackay-Steven’s second-half wonder-strike will hog the headlines, but from a St Mirren perspective they at times struggled to do themselves justice over the course of the 90 minutes.
Heading to Pittodrie on the back of a seven-match unbeaten run, hopes had been high among the Black and White Army of pulling off a cup upset at the expense of the Dons.
But a combination of some sloppy defending and slackness in front of goal piled on the misery as the game slipped from their grasp after just 47 minutes.
Adam Rooney’s penalty, combined with a double from Ryan Christie, saw Saints traipse in 3-1 down at the break.
And Mackay-Steven’s stunning drive less than two minutes into the second half only compounded their misery.
A bright start from the Buddies saw them go toe-to-toe with their top-flight opponents but it would take just eight minutes for the Dons to get themselves in front.
A needless challenge from Stelios Demetriou sent Greg Stewart tumbling inside the box when it looked like he was going nowhere, leaving ref Don Robertson no option but to point to the spot.
Rooney was the man to duly do the honours, slotting into the bottom lefthand corner.
It wasn’t one- way traffic by any means as Saints created a handful of chances.
The pick of the bunch fell to Kyle Magennis, with the midfielder benefitting from Lewis Morgan’s cutback after the midfielder was played in by Cammy Smith’s backheel.
The youngster struck first-time only for Joe Lewis to produce a fine block.
But things went from bad to worse in 18 minutes as the Dons raced into a two-goal lead.
Aberdeen were getting a lot of joy through Mackay-Steven on the left, with the former Celtic man tormenting Liam Smith at every opportunity.
The Scotland international hit the byline and all he had to do was cut back for Christie, whose powerful drive was too much for keeper Craig Samson.
Despite the scoreline, Saints were still enjoying their fair share of possession and putting Aberdeen under pressure.
Their hard work was rewarded in 25 minutes as Stelios briefly redeemed himself to help set up the Saints goal.
The Cypriot robbed Stewart of the ball on the edge of the Aberdeen box before keeping his cool to play in Morgan, who struck for goal.
His effort was parried by Lewis but Gavin Reilly managed to nip in front of Andrew Considine to tap home.
Morgan then came within a matter of inches of levelling, lobbing Joe Lewis after the keeper raced from goal, only to see the ball drop just wide.
All Jack Ross would have wanted now was for his side to keep it tight and try to nick another goal.
But unfortunately for the Saints gaffer his defence had other ideas as they proved to be the architects of their own downfall, allowing the Dons to restore their two-goal advantage.
Mackay-Steven was again allowed too much time and space on the left-hand side as he jinked past Smith to dink a ball into the box.
Stelios should have been able to clear his lines but somehow only managed to head the ball off teammate Ian McShane as the ball eventually broke to Shay Logan.
The Dons full-back floated another ball towards the far post and there was Christie to glance across goal to make it 3-1.
Many anticipated a change in personnel for the Buddies at half-time but Ross kept the faith in his side – perhaps hoping for them to shore it up at the back and continue in the same vein going forward.
But all plans were thrown out the Star Saint: Stephen McGinn A hard day to pick a player from a St Mirren perspective, but skipper McGinn never stopped working in the middle of the park on what must have been a frustrating afternoon. Match Facts
Score Aberdeen 4 St Mirren 1 Scorers Reilly, Rooney, Christie (2) Mackay--Stevens Bookings Considine, McLean Red Carded No-one Referee Don Robertson Attendance 9,848 Teams: St Mirren: Samson, Smith, Stelios, Baird, Davis, McGinn, McShane (Flynn 56), Magennis, Smith (Hill 76), Morgan, Reilly (Mullen 65). Subs not used: Stewart, MacKenzie, Eckersley, Hill and Sutton. Aberdeen: Lewis, Logan, Considine, O’Connor, Reynolds (Harvie 84), Shinnie, McLean, Christie, Mackay-Steven (McGinn 68), Stewart (May 78), Rooney. window less than two minutes in when Mackay-Steven snapped the ball from Smith before unleashing a thunderbolt of a strike right into the postage stamp corner of Samson’s goal.
The strike really was a thing of beauty, with no-one doubting its quality – but it put any hope of an already unlikely comeback to bed.
With the game all but won after 47 minutes Aberdeen took their foot off the gas, with both sides simply going through the motions.
Ross used the opportunity to throw on debut boys Mark Hill and Ryan Flynn, as well as hand Danny Mullen a run-out.
But it was no less than job done for the Dons, with chances falling to Stevie May and Rooney in the closing stages.
St Mirren’s cup dream may be over for another season – but with an important league clash with Dunfermline coming on Friday night, there is no time to for players or fans to mope.