AIRDRIE UNITED

St. JOHNSTONE

St. Johnstone came at Airdrie full tilt from the first whistle. It became obvious within minutes that Paddy Connolly and Paul Hartley were in sizzling form and were capable of causing all sorts of problems. Their three man attack caused Airdrie tactical problems as our five man defence sat back way too far allowing them to swarm all over us. Things weren't helped by the fact that playerboss Sandy Stewart, man of the match in the first match and our best player in recent weeks, went off with either a knee or hamstring injury only five minutes into the game. That meant an early entrance for Willie Wilson at right wing back with Paul Armstrong moving in one to the centre with Docherty now sweeping. The move didn't help Airdrie settle and Saints had a few decent chances with Connolly, Hartley and Lovenkrands (hitting the far post) all threatening our goal. With five against three at the back David McGuire was sucked way back into the midfield to look for the ball as we were pinned back.

It was little surprise that they took the lead ten minutes before half time through Connolly though it was starting to look like they'd already run out of ideas. Connolly connected well with a header that had just too much to beat McGeown in goal. Our fans behind the goal got right behind the team even then as we've come to expect over the years and the team responded, though Hay nearly broke away to score after McGuire looked to be fouled in midfield but we clung on till half time only a goal down. The half time talk was about how lucky we were to still be in it but in the knowledge that a comeback wasn't beyond us. I wanted to see us revert to four at the back.

And so Mr. Stewart agreed. A tactical alteration after the break. We went 442 against their 433 in the second half with Gow on for McGuire on the left wing, and Willie Wilson playing wide right of the midfield four. The new look let Airdrie compete in the midfield a lot more and it only took about ten minutes for the equaliser. A long ball found it's way through to Jerome, looking offside if the truth be told, and he controlled the ball well before firing beyond Cuthbert in goal. The big Frenchie milked the adulation from the fans and rightly so. The rest of the half was a tense affair with Gow posing a real threat to Saints who seemed to be benefitting from some divine help from their three 'minders' on the field.

Some of the refereeing was diabolical. McCulloch and Reilly in the Perth midfield were purely and simply hatchet men. McCulloch (no. 4) didn't get booked as he cynically tried to put McGowan out of the game. McGowan was booked later for a run of the mill foul. McKeown was yellow carded for a flailing elbow catching Hartley but when McGowan was deliberately elbowed in the face, I heard the crack from the back row of our stand, in full view of the 'officials' there was no punishment. Add to that the amount of ridiculous offsides and one sided view of fouls it was a frustrating night.

Connolly almost won the tie with the last 'kick' of the ball as another header cracked our bar. Extra time came and went with Airdrie finishing stronger and Gowser could so easily have won it when he run through but the goalie blocked well before clearing off his line. What should have been a last minute corner though was 'miraculously' turned into a St. Johnstone free kick for offside even though Gow had run onto his own ball. I'd like to express now where I'd like to shove that linesman's flag.

All in all we were the second best side attacking wise but had defended well. Hartley for Saints was outstanding in midfield both attacking and defensively. If he could shoot better he'd be international class! Connolly was on fire just like the good old days and Parker looked hungry when he came on. As mentioned earlier the bruisers in their midfield were contemptable. Airdrie had sterling performances from Armstrong, Docherty and McGowan. For anyone not there let's just say that the going got tough and those three guys are the new Stewart, Sandison and Jack. I'd single out Armstrong if I had to pick a favourite but then that's not the first time I'd have said that either, would it? McVey, Ronald (fit guy), Gowser when he came on, Vareille from half time onward all put in a shift, while it's fair to say that Dosser and Marv in central midfield were over run for long periods especially in the first have as they were outnumbered. Well done Sandy for correcting things at half time. Pity that our squad is so stretched to the limits.