The Broxburn dream ends with a fanfare as Saints march on

EVEN in defeat, they jumped, bounced and sang their hearts out. Red-and-white flags and scarves were waved in a tribute to their battling players. Hands were shaken, memories made.

Yes, the dream is over for Broxburn and their 1,600 fans who travelled to Paisley. But the effort? Well, they could not be faulted.

History books will show a victory for Premiership side St Mirren in this Scottish Cup fourth-round tie but the scoreline was harsh on the team from the East of Scotland Premier Division.

Rightfully, they savoured every moment at the end of the biggest game in their history.

The sixth-tier outfit held Saints at the break before Jon Obika’s 55th-minute opener. It took until the final minute of normal time for the hosts to double their lead through Danny Mullen before Obika added a third in injury time.

Despite the defeat for Broxburn, the smiles failed to fade for boss Brian McNaughton and the club’s passionate supporters.

‘The team did great,’ he said. ‘Three nil sounds a smashing but St Mirren had all the play. They are a better team but we stuck at it, first half especially.

‘Fitness and full-time will always come into it. When the second goal went in, it was inevitable the third would follow. I was just a bit disappointed we didn’t get higher up the park at times.

‘When you think it’s tier one v tier six, we showed there is a bit of quality further down the chain.’

As expected, the Broxburn fans who travelled from West Lothian were a boisterous bunch. A sea of red and white filled the stand behind their goal. A red smoke bomb was thrown on to the pitch as the teams emerged.

The opening stages were played in a predictable fashion. St Mirren, who handed debuts to defenders Conor McCarthy and Akin Famewo, dominated possession.

For the visitors, every tackle, last-ditch block and misplaced pass by Saints was cheered by their supporters as if their team had scored a goal.

After 25 minutes, it seemed certain By Graham Swann the hosts would score. Junior Morias’ cross was set for Ilkay Durmus at the back post but team-mate Obika slid in front of him and skewed the ball wide.

Saints midfielder Kyle Magennis almost made the breakthrough five minutes after the restart with a shot from 20 yards but Broxburn goalkeeper Connor Wallace saved.

However, the Paisley side did take the lead on 55 minutes when Calum Waters’ mis-hit shot bounced off Obika in the six-yard box to wrong-foot Wallace.

McNaughton’s men had to go for it and the manager brought on striker Zander Miller, scorer of six goals in the cup this season.

They produced their first attempt on the hour but Ross Nimmo’s shot was held by Vaclav Hladky.

Wallace then produced a terrific save on 72 minutes from substitute Mullen’s volley.

The keeper produced heroics again to deny Saints substitute Jamie McGrath on his debut before Obika was thwarted in the box.

With six minutes remaining, McGrath struck the bar from 25 yards before Morias’ follow-up header was blocked by Wallace.

Mullen made it 2-0 in the 89th minute when he curled home his effort before Obika made it three in stoppage time.

Ahead of visiting Rangers on Wednesday night, Saints boss Jim Goodwin joked: ‘We’ll take Broxburn’s approach — we might park two buses.

‘But credit to them. Reaching this stage of the cup is outstanding and the number of fans they brought through added to the atmosphere.’