Glory on Tayside for magnificent Saints
WITH FOOTBALL IN COLD STORAGE WE TAKE A LOOK AT OLD ST
Craig Ritchie
St Mirren retain their tag as cup masters as they completed the upset of the weekend away to Dundee.
Goals from John Sutton and Jack Baird handed the Paisley side clear passage to the next round of the Scottish Cup despite the odds being stacked against them before a ball was even kicked.
But in truth it could have been even more as the Saints produced their best performance of the season so far to dominate their opponents for large spells of the game at Dens.
Jack Ross opted to hand first-team debuts to new signings Billy O’Brien and Pal Fjelde, while Stevie Mallan was involved despite a potential move to English Championship side Barnsley.
Elsewhere, new boy Stelios Demetriou had to settle for a seat in the stand, with St Mirren still awaiting international clearance to play the Cypriot.
St Mirren gave a very good impression of a side in form in the opening exchanges, with the defence holding firm despite a lot of pressure from Dundee in the opening half.
Marcus Haber had the first real chance of the game when he cannoned an effort off of the post with just four minutes on the clock after loose marking around the box saw Tom Hateley slip in the striker.
But Saints were looking good on the counter attack and a slick move down the left flank between Fjelde and Kyle McAllister forced the Paisley side’s first corner of the game, but it was to come to nothing as Gary MacKenzie failed to get on the end of a Mallan delivery.
At the other end new keeper O’Brien was proving to be the real deal following his signing from Manchester City on Thursday.
The 22-year-old produced amazing heroics to palm Cammy Kerr’s goalbound effort around the post, and he quickly dusted himself down to punch clear the resulting corner on 23 minutes.
His efforts were rewarded moments later as Sutton hit the target as the Buddies broke up the park.
The ball simply broke to Sutton at the edge of the box and the experienced striker picked his spot before curling home a delightful strike into the bottom corner of Scott Bain’s goal.
The home support was audibly frustrated by its team’s lack of attacking threat as they failed to take a number of chances before the half was out.
O’Brien was again at his best as he superbly tipped the ball over the bar from a vicious Craig Wighton strike after Faissal El Bakhtaoui’s through ball caught the Saints rearguard sleeping.
Haber should have then restored parity from the resulting corner but somehow managed to miss the target from four yards, with the goal at his mercy.
And the personal battle between Haber and O’Brien continued, with the keeper again getting the better of the striker with a fine blocking save after
Star Saint:
Billy O’Brien
Man of the match performance for the keeper in his first outing. Produced a number of stunning saves in the first half to ensure the Saints had a solid platform to build on.
Dundee pounced on a poor clearance from Gary Irvine, with the half- time whistle quickly following.
The Buddies roared back into action in the second half and they were soon 2- 0 up, with 48 minutes on the clock.
A Mallan corner broke back out to the midfielder as he took full advantage of a slip from Wighton.
He showed a quick flash of skill to round Wighton before cutting back an inch-perfect pass for Jack Baird to smash home his third goal of the season.
And it was so close to 3-0 moments later as another Mallan corner wreaked havoc before Morgan forced Bain to parry over the bar with an overhead kick.
St Mirren settled into a positive rhythm from the hour mark onwards, with Dundee offering very little going forward – despite a raft of substitutions.
Match Facts
Score Dundee 0 St Miren 2
Scorers Sutton, Baird
Bookings Mallan
Red Carded No-one
Referee Bobby Madden
Attendance 3,622
Teams: St Mirren O’Brien, Fjelde, Irvine, Baird, MacKenzie, Magennis (Whyte 74), Storie, Mallan, McAllister (MacPherson 90), Morgan, Sutton (Clarkson 85). Subs not used: Langfield, Webster, McLear and O’Keefe.
Dundee Bain, Kerr, Holt, Gazhalov, Etxabeguren, Hateley (Williams 58), McGowan, O’Hara, El Bakhtaoui (Duffy 58), Haber, Wighton. Subs not used: Mitchell, Gomis, Curran, Vincent and Ross.
Without creating anything of note St Mirren were still dominating the clash – much to the dismay of the home support.
Saints were still posing problems with 10 minutes left instead of trying to defend their lead.
Mallan, in what could be his last appearance for the Buddies, was saving the best for last.
A teasing ball across the box for Morgan came close to paying dividends but the Dee defence eventually scrambled clear just as the midfielder was announced as the official man of the match.
A low drive from substitute David Clarkson was blocked behind for another Paisley corner, before Fjelde unleashed a vicious volley over the bar.
But despite a late flurry of action at the other end, the Buddies held strong much to the delight of the vocal away support.