ROSS FIRES UP BUDDIES

ST MIRREN boss Jack Ross revealed how a half-time blast earned his side a place in the Irn-Bru Cup final against Dundee United next month. The Championship’s bottom club were fortunate to be just the one goal behind at the interval — a curling shot from the edge of the area from Ryan Brobbel — but, inspired by Ross’s words, they turned the tie around. ‘In the first half, we were a disgrace and I said that to the players at half-time,’ he said. ‘I was angry with them. ‘I was angry with them as it’s no reflection on how we do things. But the second half was and that’s why we won.’ Stephen Mallan, who saw a move to Barnsley fall through last month, was the main man. Captain Stephen McGinn scored a spectacular equaliser from 25 yards and then drew a foul from Steven Saunders which saw the ex-Motherwell man given a red card. Mallan fired the freekick behind Paul Harrison from 30 yards and the Welsh folded. John Sutton had a penalty saved but thrashed Kyle Magennis’s low cross past Harrison before Rory Loy converted Mallan’s cross late on.