Craigan 5 Murphy 14 Sutton 39
THE way you looked at this match probably depended upon whether you regarded Hampden Park as half-empty or half-full. While neutrals, including those watching on TV, will have registered the paltry crowd of 11,925 which lent a surreal air to the national stadium and told its own story about the state of the Scottish game, this will not have bothered the Motherwell contingent in the slightest as they left the south side of Glasgow triumphant.
They had just witnessed an excellent performance from their side, crowned by first-half goals from Stephen Craigan, Jamie Murphy and John Sutton, that ensured an emotional Scottish Cup final return 20 years on from their epic 1991 victory.
Among those missing yesterday, of course, as they will be on May 21, were the four members of the Fir Park squad of that time – Davie Cooper, Phil O’Donnell, Jamie Dolan and Paul McGrillen – who have all tragically died while still young men. Their absence on day a when the current Motherwell side will have the chance to become legends in their own right will be sorely felt by all connected with the club.
This was Stuart McCall’s second major cup semi-final in a three-and-half month reign and he now has a 50% success rate. The former Scotland international had inherited a place in the last four of Co-operative Insurance Cup from his predecessor Craig Brown, only to go down narrowly to his former team Rangers.
But he brought his side back to Hampden in this competition by steering them through three earlier rounds. In the opposite dug-out yesterday was his former club-mate Derek McInnes, a man he had largely kept out of the Ibrox midfield, but who offered McCall scouting work after his parting of the ways with Bradford City came to an end.
St Johnstone were chasing their own piece of history at Hampden, the club having never reached the final of Scotland’s premier cup competition, and for all of five minutes the underdogs looked like they might have their day. McInnes made seven changes from the side that lost narrowly to Celtic in midweek, one of them due to the luckless Chris Millar missing out with a hamstring problem, and his team could have been ahead after less than two minutes when Danny Grainger swung the ball over from a free-kick which Danny Invincibile headed goalwards, only for Darren Randolph to tip over.
St Johnstone have scored just 18 goals in 33 SPL games this season, however, and, a miscued headed clearance from Motherwell’s Tom Hateley aside, it was to be their only real chance of merit in the first period. What had not been expected were the frailties the Perth side displayed at the other end. Two minutes on from having had a chance to take the lead, this tie had already started getting away from them when goalkeeper Peter Enckelman missed the ball as he tried to grab Hateley’s swirling corner, presenting Motherwell captain Craigan with a virtually unmissable headed chance from three yards which he duly converted to give his side an early lead.
It was 2-0 nine minutes later when Sutton prodded a loose ball on to Murphy and the PFA Scotland young player of the year nominee sauntered in off the left flank, watched as Steven Anderson and Michael Duberry got impeded each other, and produced a sweet right-foot finish into the bottom corner. Chances for a third goal came and went. Keith Lasley tugged a left-foot finish wide after a cute Francis Jeffers lay-off, then Murphy outmanouevred Duberry and Dave Mackay but fired wide.
However, Enckelman’s private nightmare continued six minutes from half-time. Sutton worked a headed one-two with strike partner Jeffers and caught out the Finn – clad in eye-catching bright green – with an audacious left-foot lob, the goalkeeper reduced to pawing the ball into his own top corner a la Mickael Landreau in Paris after James McFadden’s wonder strike for Scotland.
Motherwell’s fans greeted the half-time whistle as if it was game over, and to all intents and purposes it was. St Johnstone rang the changes but to no avail. Grainger had a free-kick saved; Murray Davidson – his side’s best player – tested Randolph from distance then rattled the bar with a header; and referee Iain Brines waved away a decent penalty claim when Steven Hammell lunged in on Invincibile.
All five Motherwell players who went into the game a yellow card away from missing the final avoided getting their names in the book. Barring injuries, they will be at full strength when they return here to face Celtic or Aberdeen and optimists among their support will feel they have a decent chance of marking that 20th anniversary by winning the Scottish Cup for a third time.
