A TONY Bullock mistake was enough to send St Johnstone through to the Scottish Cup quarter-finals last night. On-loan Falkirk midfielder Liam Craig was the gleeful recipient of the 14th minute howler as Ross County exited their second cup of the sea
son at Saints' hands.
While the First Division side shaded the first half, they were pegged back for good spells of the second period by the team from the league below.
Saints, who now face Dundee United or St Mirren,
had defeated County 2-0 in CIS Cup action at Victoria Park in September.
St Johnstone's hunger was apparent early on and they almost drew first blood. Peter MacDonald's acrobatic volley from the edge of the box was just tipped over by a full-stretch Bullock.
But the County goalkeeper's horrendous blunder gifted Saints the opener. Bullock had to adjust his positioning as he met a Martin Scott back-pass, but completely skewed his clearance, and Craig raced in to fire the ball into an empty net.
Eight minutes later, Andrew Jackson burst forward and lashed a low shot just wide of Bullock's left-hand post.
There was better from the Second Division leaders soon after, though, with an Alex Keddie header dropping just over from Dene Shields' stabbed cross.
The usually-reliable Bullock also spilled a fairly harmless speculative shot from MacDonald after 38 minutes.
Home sub Danny Moore made an immediate impact after the break with a piercing run and ball into the box for Shields to knock just wide. Another Moore delivery drew a similar result from Andy Barrowman.
Darren Brady was also withdrawn early, with ex-Celtic replacement Paul Lawson drawing boos from the St Johnstone fans in lieu of last season's McDiarmid Park loan stint. Saints' Steven Anderson was booked for a foul on Scott in 71 minutes, and Sean Higgins' resultant free-kick delivery wreaked havoc. Andy Dowie smacked the left-hand upright with a header before Shields' scissor-kick was hooked off the line.
Saints were not without threat, though, with sub Kevin Moon curling a shot over. Mostly, though, the Perth side were content to let time tick away as they frustrated the hosts.
Ross County: Bullock; Miller, Dowie, Keddie, Golabek; Brady (Lawson 57), Scott; Shields (Petrie 82), Higgins, Strachan (Moore 46); Barrowman. Subs not used: Malin, Boyd. Booked: Lawson, Scott.
St Johnstone: Main; Irvine, Rutkiewicz, Anderson, Stanic (McManus 80); Craig, Cameron, Sheerin; Jackson, MacDonald (Moon 64), Milne (Weatherston 89). Subs not used: Cuthbert, McCluskey. Booked: Rutkeiwicz, Anderson, Jackson.
Referee: William Collum.
Attendance: 2,385.
The full article contains 441 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
