THIS was quite the way to make a first impression. For months, even before he had signed him for St Mirren, Ian Murray had been extolling the capabilities of Scott Agnew and expressing his surprise that no full-time club had been willing to take a chance on a player he had worked with closely at Dumbarton. On his competitive debut on Saturday, Agnew showed just why his manager rates him so highly.
There will be more taxing challenges than this Petrofac Training Cup tie against League 2 Berwick Rangers but, even still, it was hard not to be impressed by Agnew’s contribution to St Mirren’s victory. Playing initially in a deeper midfield role, the 27 year-old started to inch his way further forward the longer the match wore on and duly got his rewards. His first goal was a raking 20-yard effort that arced beyond the Berwick goalkeeper, the second another bash with his left-foot that found the net with unerring accuracy. After that he tried everything he could to get his hat-trick, with one shot shoved against the post and another strike ruled out for offside. By the end he had to settle for just the two goals but the St Mirren public certainly seemed to appreciate his endeavours.
“It was a great debut,” said Agnew. "The only thing that could have made it better would have been getting a hat-trick. The goalkeeper has tipped an effort onto the post and I don't think I will come closer to getting a hat-trick than that. Overall it was a good first game for me.
"If I can get the ball shifted on to my left foot I know I can hit the target regularly. I like to have shots from distance and luckily two went in. I was shooting from everywhere after the goals because I was desperate to net a treble. I was close there but not close enough.”
Having spent the majority of his career playing part-time football, Agnew intends to make the most of his belated entry to the full-time game.
"I work hard every day and this is the stage and the chance for me to show what I can do,” he added "When the manager came to St Mirren, I knew there might be a chance that I could follow him here. In the summer there was a bit of interest from other full-time Championship clubs but for me it was a no-brainer to come to St Mirren. You just need to look at the facilities, the stadium and the way we play and I have loved every minute so far.
"I have a good relationship with the manager and I have been with him for two and a half years now and he likes the way I work and he knows what I can deliver and what I can do. That shows on the park.”
This was Murray’s debut too after leaving Dumbarton in the summer to take over at St Mirren and there was an early scare for him when Berwick scored after just five minutes through Blair Henderson.
A Steven Thompson penalty, however, levelled things up before Agnew’s two goals after the break allowed St Mirren to cruise through to victory. They will discover their next opponents in Monday’s draw.
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