Finishing touch continues to desert St Mirren
If you’d offered St Mirren boss Jim Goodwin three glorious close-range chances before their semi-final clash with St Johnstone had kicked off, he’d have likely bitten your hand off.
Cup clashes at Hampden Park are so often nervy, tight affairs that are settled by either a moment of magic or a moment of madness.
On Sunday, as well as having a stonewall penalty turned down, the Buddies managed to create three wonderful opportunities to score, two of which would have seen the Paisley side crucially take the lead.
Lee Erwin’s point-blank miss on the half hour mark was the least embarrasing of the trio, with Zander Clark doing incredibly well to rush out and close down the space to block.
Collin Quaner’s miss in the second half was much less easily forgiven.
Ilkay Durmus, who was sensational throughout Sunday’s tie and who did not deserve to end up on the losing side, put in the kind of cross strikers dream of.
Yes he had to stretch for it, but he absolutely should have rustled the net to put St Mirren in the lead.
Any football fan worth their salt knows just how important the first goal is in any cup tie, and as soon as he fluffed his lines you feared the worst for the Paisley Saints.
As it was, and not for the first time this season, St Johnstone went on to punish the Buddies’ poor finishing by rattling in two goals in the space of three minutes.
Quaner had the chance to atone with a free header from just outside the six yard box, but again the German couldn’t convert.
Once again, in what has been a common theme this season, the St Mirren strikers simply didn’t deliver when called upon.