The Saints support was massive, probably around the 2000 mark, which caused some problems. Aside from Ayr sneakily raising the prices, they had a whole three gates open for the away terracing, one of which was for concessions. I arrived at 2.40 and wasn't in for five minutes due to the queue. Inevitably, the kick off was delayed twice, much to the annoyance of the Saints support. Why couldn't Ayr have opened more gates? These were near enough the only tannoy announcements all afternoon which met with some boos. More of that later...
The game finally got away at half past three, and got off to a slow start. Saints looked a little shaky at the back, but were rarely threatened, and din't do much up front. McGinty was his usual self, trying to beat one man too many, duffing shots and not passing. Kean had a few efforts, one of which was extremely tame and caused Ludo no problems whatsoever. Ayr's best chance of the half came from a free kick, when the half cleared effort was stopped with a brilliant save by Craig Hinchcliffe. It didn't matter though, as the flag was up for offside.
Right on half time, Saints apparently went ahead. I say apparently as I never saw the goal. A free kick was half cleared by McLaughlin, then found its way to Kean (supposedly) who, I'm reliably informed, hit it with his left foot just inside the post. Having seen the ball heading goalwards it looked like it was heading wide, but from the cheers it seemed it was just in. Right before half time is the best time to score, and for once Saints had managed it.
Half time saw some good entertainment, and I'm not talking about the fiendish competition where a supporter had to try and hit the ball off the left post, the right post and the crossbar. The fun was with the tannoy announcer. As half time started an announcement was made for a Saints fan to go to the main stand. Nothing unusual, announcements such as this about moving cars are common. Except the Saints fan in question was Doug Somner. That's the Doug Somner who played for Saints in the 1970s. Cool, I thought. One of our legends is here to see us in the cup. Not so it seemed, as at the end of half time there was a request for Davie Lapsley to do the same. That's the Davie Lapsley who played for Saints in the 1959 cup final and died four years ago! As the afternoon went on the announcements got better, and the tannoy announcer must have been in on it. Alex Beckett, Peter Godfrey and, best of all, Gudmunder Torfason all had their names read out over the tannoy during the second half, each occasion being met with cheers and chants by the Saints fans.
Anyway, on to the football, and Saints started the bgither of the two sides, going close to adding to their lead. Their task was made easier after just five minutes when Darren Henderson managed to get himself sent off. His first booking came for a tug on Hugh Murray's shirt, shortly after the Ayr man had somehow escaped a booking for kicking the ball away. His second booking came for a shocking challenge on David van Zanten, who was fortunately not badly injured, and should have seen a straight red. Bye bye Henderson. So, Saints up against ten men, surely a win. No chance!
As per usual, Saints managed to meak heavy weather of playing against ten men, though they were still better than Ayr. A dangerous free kick flashed just across the face of goal with no takers, whilst McGinty messed up a good chance after a great ball through from Kean. O'Neill also had a chance which Roy saved well, and a Murray drive after a good knock down by Gillies was aimed straight at Roy. It was just like the Hamilton cup game, with Saints well on top but unable to get a killer goal. Until the 80th minute.
Allan Russell, who once again impressed after replacing the useless McGinty, somehow managed to win the ball back on the left edge of the penalty are and put in a high cross. It looked bad, but Murray was on the end of it and just directed a tame header past Roy and into the net off the post. Cue mass celebrations in front of the Saints support, with a few supporters even running onto the pitch. Well, we have been waiting 18 years for this!
Saints weren't troubled in the remainder of the match, and could even have added to their lead if substitute Ricky Gillies hadn't messed up a fantastic chance, and fellow sub Mark Crilly hadn't passed to the offside Gillies instead of shooting. Overall it was a well deserved win. Any other result would have been disaster.
There were some other fun points aside from the tannoy announcer. Barry McLaughlin got injured, prompting the Saints support to sing his name and ask for a wave, which he got. A similar tactic failed on Ludo after his performance at Love Street. The best, however, came when McLaughlin was booked just before Shuggy's goal, with the Saints fans booing the decision!
So, we're through to the draw, and we'll all be tuned to BBC 1 Scotland at 6.45pm on Monday. Who do we want? Celtic (if they beat Dunfermline) anywhere, or someone at home. If we get a home tie against anyone other than Celtic then we might sneak into the semi finals. From a personal point of view I'd like Hearts, Hibs or even Livingston away, but that's just me. Knowing our luck, it'll be away to the winners of the Clyde v Ross County replay.
Come on guys, get us a good draw on Monday.