Report

TOOTHLESS TALBOT EXIT SCOTTISH CUP

Report: Jim McAuley, Photography: Craig McGhee, Media: Lee Conn.

Talbot crashed out of the Scottish Cup in the same way as their season has progressed so far. No fire power saw them lose to a club a tier below them and although they dominated for large parts of the match they had all the cutting edge of a broken milk carton. It seems fitting that in a university town they were schooled in the art of scoring, made worse by the fact it was St Andrews first attempt on goal for a full hour. All credit to the Fife outfit, they battled relentlessly shaking off their underdog mantle to inflict Talbot’s worst result since they were allowed to participate in the competition.

Talbot had made a couple of changes with Wilson moving back into left back while the midfield was re-jigged to accommodate the absent Wardrope.  The first real chance was when Smith broke down the right wing but before any damage was done Reekie put in a telling tackle. From the resultant throw in Park picked out Smith who in turn made a short pass to Thomson who although under pressure got the ball back to Park and his telling through ball got to the feet of Smith and after a dip of the shoulder  he got past the saints defence but his superb ball across the path of the keeper saw no takers. Talbot fashioned a decent attack when Wilson played a well hit pass to Langan who was quick to pick out  the unmarked Boyle, that after surging forward sprayed the ball wide to Thomson who decided to let the ball run into the corner of the pitch before sweeping past Cunningham but over hit the ball and was booked for a lunge on Shields.

After this the game turned into a midfield battle that provided little entertainment for the decent crowd that had turned up, and by the end of 45 minutes both goalies had little to do.

The second half  saw Talbot on attack when Armstrong robbed McManus in the middle of the pitch and pumped a high ball to nobody in particular. The goalie looked to have the ball covered at the edge of his box but the ball took a wicked bounce forcing the him to palm the ball in the air but when going to punch it he looked to have hit Smith in the face, but referee Ross Donaldson showed little interest. The Talbot support let out a mighty roar when they thought they had opened the scoring when a long ball by Slooves was headed into the path of Smith by Saints defender Milkne where the striker was quick enough to pick out Boylan who swept a superb ball to Boyle inside the box but his shot from about 12 yards was superbly saved by Brodie.

Shortly after Boylan went in the book after he climbed for Slooves high ball just outside of the box where Milkne went down clutching his face and the referee decided on a card. Although dominating long parts of the game the sucker punch came from a Talbot throw-in. Wilson’s throw was headed back down the pitch by Collins into the path of McPherson where his ball up the pitch was headed by Roche into the path of McManus where the Saints player was not shut down quickly enough and was allowed to swing a speculative ball from some 35 yards over the top of McPherson and onto the head of Andrews who gave Glavin no chance. The Talbot support on the hedge side of the ground were incensed by the linesman who seemed not to have kept up with play and missed a call for offside, but in all honesty it was wishful thinking as Andrews had timed his run to perfection. The biggest disappointment in the goal was why McManus was allowed to get the ball in the box in the first place.

As expected Talbot made a go of it and when Langan grafted for a loose ball to get Smith on his way, the player picked out Thomson who curled a great shot just past the post with Brodie beaten. Smith was the next player in the book as he was disposed by Milkne and decided to lash out in frustration which left the defender crumpled in a heap.

As time ticked away to quickly Talbot replaced Park, Thomson and Langan with Boyd, Gillies and Abed and shortly after McMillan replaced Boyle. Talbot had half a chance when a long throw by McMillan saw Brodie flap at the ball when under pressure from McPherson but it was scrambled away after there were no Talbot takers for the loose ball. Goalscorer Andrews got himself booked for tugging McPherson back when the big defender got first dibs on a loose ball.

The tiredness was starting to show when Armstrong went into the book followed by Sawyers. The Fifers should have had the game wrapped up on the 95th minute when another long throw by McMillan cased panic in the Saints box but when it was finally cleared it was passed  to the unmarked Lorimer who ran 40 yards towards goals chased by Gillies but struck his shot poorly giving Glavin the chance to stop the ball with his leg. The final whistle followed seconds later which saw scenes of jubilation for the home support as their club had reached the second round for the first time, meanwhile the travelling support trudged to their transport with the knowledge that Meadow’s win at New Cumnock had destined Talbot to the bottom of the league.

St Andrews: Brodie, Milkne, Cunningham, Reekie, McManus, Sawyers, Sneddon, Roche, Shields, Collins, Andrews. SUBS: Halliday, McGlashan, Kennedy, Greenhill, Dignan, Lorimer, Grant.

Talbot: Glavin, Park, Wilson, McPherson. Slooves, Langan, Boyle, Armstrong, Boylan, Smith, Thomson. SUBS: Boyd, McMillan, Abed, Gillies, Black, Hendry, Kennedy, McCracken. Lennox.