Whisper it but we’re dreaming of glory
Saints flying for Cup semi as hero goalie sweats on injury
Callum Davidson admits all eyes are on Scottish Cup glory after a first-half Glenn Middleton strike kept St Johnstone’s nineyear unbeaten run at Easter Road going.
The Perth boss also revealed keeper Zander Clark is a doubt for next Sunday’s Hampden clash against St Mirren due to a freak injury to his BIG TOE as he became one of seven changes to their line-up.
It’s now seven trips to Leith and counting without defeat for Saints and Davidson was delighted with a solid win which underlined his options for their semi- f inal at the National Stadium.
The boss admits Clark did some damage in the aftermath of his penalty shoot-out heroics in the quarter-final against Rangers.
He said: “I’m not exactly sure what happened with Zander, I’ll need to investigate that further.
“I think he got himself involved in the celebrations and someone stood on his big toe.
“Hopefully it’s not too bad. We will need to see how it settles down next week.
“It shows the depth we have and I was pleased with the players I could put on.
“The lads who came in were excellent and they worked extremely hard.
“I probably did have a team in my head for the semi but people have now put question marks in that.
“That is good and makes it more difficult for me. I hope we will get through this week in training, that everyone stays fit and healthy and we can look forward to Sunday.
“Hibs have a real attacking threat so for us to come to Easter Road and limit their scoring chances was the most pleasing thing.”
The maths appeared straightforward, all Hibs had to do was to better Aberdeen’s result at Livingston and a thi rd- place f inish was assured. But a 2-1 win for the Dons put paid to that as Jack Ross’ men flopped.
It was the home side who started better though and Christian Doidge’s glancing header from Joe Newel l ’s free-kick was held by keeper
Elliott Parish during a quiet opening spell.
Saints threatened in the 21st minute after Michael O’Halloran ran in behind the Hibs backline before finding Chris Kane but the striker’s effort from an angle was blocked Ryan Porteous.
The opener was only delayed a matter of seconds. Again it was O’Halloran who was at the heart of it as he was muscled out of possession by Porteous, only for the defender to inexplicably send a pass straight to Middleton who composed himself before slamming home a shot from 16 yards. A dreadful error and clinically punished.
O’Halloran’s movement and pace was proving too hot to handle for Hibs and Drey Wright was first into the book for a cynical body block to prevent the striker from bursting free on the left on the half hour.
Martin Boyle’s acrobatic attempt from Jackson Irvine’s back-post delivery had to be shoved to safety by Parish as the Leith side looked to level before the break.
It was to no avail as Irvine was next to see yellow for overstating his annoyance at a decision which didn’t go his way.
Boyle watched his shot deflect wide moments after the restart and that was followed by Alex Gogic’s overhead kick at goal which went too high as Hibs pressed for parity from the restart.
Ali McCann had his name taken for a crude lunge on Newell as the midfield scrap rumbled on.
And the cards kept piling up with Paul McGinn cautioned for a trip on Kane.
Boyle did have the ball in the net for Hibs, only for the offside flag to bring the home celebrations to a halt.
So the battle for third goes on for Hibs. Clearly in this one they were thinking about their own Cup semi-final at Hampden next weekend against Dundee United.