Alnwick comes to the rescue once again for Buddies

I have written these words so many times I’m starting to lose count.

But at the end of the Jak Alnwick’s incredible performances deserve to still be highlighted, no matter how many times that’s happened already this season.

Once again, it was the Saints goalkeeper to the rescue as the former Newcastle and Rangers man pulled off some superb stops at crucial times to keep his side in the game.

The 27-year-old pulled off two excellent stops from Nikolay Todorov and Daniel MacKay before the Caley Jags eventually took the lead at the start of the second half.

After Kristian Dennis’rapid leveller it still fell to the goalkeeper to ensure his side were heading into extra-time, producing another fine save from a dipping MacKay strike that was destined for the top corner.

While St Mirren arguably deserved to edge past Inverness and into the quarter-finals, having rattled the woodwork several times over the course of the 90 minutes, it was only more heroics from Alnwick that ensured Marcus Fraser’s late winner could even happen.

While I’ve been torn between Alnwick and the everimpressive Jamie McGrath as to the Buddies player of the year this season, the sheer consistency of the English keeper and the significance of some of his saves have him just edging ahead of his Irish counterpart as we head into the final weeks of the season.

With a Scottish Cup quarter-final clash at Rugby Park yet to come, I wouldn’t be surprised to be picking Jak Alnwick as the man of the match in Ayrshire come full-time, especially if the crunch tie was to go to penalties.