Ross dreaming of a silver lining for Saints

THEIR struggles in the league may be giving St Mirren nightmares but their cup exploits are providing every reason to dream.

This hard-fought victory was a ninth win from ten knockout matches this season, contrasting wildly with just two successes from 23 attempts in the Championship.

And Saints manager Jack Ross has urged his side to believe they can add a silver tinge to an otherwise dark campaign.

Substitute Lewis Morgan proved the difference between the sides, netting a double and landing the man-of-the-match award despite being on the pitch for just 24 second-half minutes.

The howling wind played a part in Saints’ 33rd-minute opener as home goalkeeper Ryan Goodfellow got himself in a mess dealing with a cross and Cammy Smith hooked an excellent finish into the unguarded net.

East Fife came into the tie on an 11-game unbeaten run, with nine of those coming since Barry Smith’s arrival as manager, and Chris Duggan levelled from the penalty spot nine minutes after the break, following Harry Davis’s foul on Ross Brown.

St Mirren retook the lead on 70 minutes as Morgan drilled in from the left edge of the box.

With six minutes remaining, he curled a stunning effort into Goodfellow’s bottom left-hand corner from 25 yards out, before Duggan pulled one back with the last kick of the match.

‘I said to the players before the game that the prize wasn’t just the quarter-finals because, for me, it’s about trying to win the cup,’ said Ross.

‘People will say “you’re deluded” but you shouldn’t be in the competition otherwise.

‘We were only three games from the final, and it’s two games now.

‘When you get to this stage, you should believe you can win the competition. We’ll see what the draw brings.’

His East Fife counterpart Smith said: ‘Everyone’s disappointed in the dressing room. They felt they had a wee opportunity today.

‘But we’ll take the positives from competing against a team from a higher division.’