We may have exited the cup and it might not have been the greatest of performances, but we should still hold our heads high. We've had a far tougher route to this stage than other teams (like Falkirk) and there's no disgrace in losing to the Old Firm. The only disappointment is how it came about.
There was a shock absence with the news that Craig Dargo was injured (again), something that could rule him out for the rest of the season. Dennis Wyness replaced him, while Billy Mehmet was fit enough to displace Jim Hamilton. The defence stayed the same, with John Potter on the bench.
So, our first Scottish Cup semi-final for 22 years. Would we be able to pull off another shock? Erm, no. It all went a bit wrong after precisely 74 seconds. Stephen McGinn's slip on the poor playing surface (well done to the brainiac who decided to water it just before kick-off) allowed Steven Davis to move forward and play in Kris Boyd. The striker's shot was blocked by Will Haining but, typically, it fell to Velicka who managed to force it home.
A terrible start, but fortunately the floodgates didn't open. Pedro Mendes had a long range shot saved by Mark Howard, while Steven Thomson produced a similar effort at the other end that Neil Alexander turned behind. There was some amusement when Boyd headed wide from a great position before Haining managed to end Mendes' day with a high challenge. The defender won the ball, but he also caught the midfielder just above the knee and he had to be replaced by Nacho Novo. Velicka nearly doubled the lead just before half time, but he comically shot wide.
From the first half it looked as if the media speculation about Andy Dorman had done its job as he was incredibly quiet. There was a rare flash of what he can do early in the second half when he ran into the box before going down under Steven Whittaker's challenge. The Saints support screamed for a penalty, but the replays showed it was out the box and a fair challenge.
The run did have one benefit - it got Saints fired up. Stephen McGinn shot just wide and Dennis Wyness shot at Alexander before disaster. No one challenged Davis on a counter attack and he was able to play in Boyd to slide home his 100th goal in Rangers colours.
The response from the Saints management was bizarre - McGinn was replaced by Garry Brady and Wyness came off for Hamilton. Why not put on a third striker - and why take off McGinn, who had done well? It was all irrelevant anyway as minutes later Kenny Miller played a 1-2 with Steve Smith before he placed the ball into the bottom corner.
That was that. Both teams effectively chucked it after that, although Howard did well to deny Miller and Novo. The lack of cutting edge up front for Saints was a problem, with Mehmet having incredibly little to work with. Too often he was out in the wide areas when he should have been in the box looking to get onto the end of a cross - but what do you expect from a team with no wingers.?
Arguably, the best performers on the day were the Saints supporters. They backed their team all day and regularly drowned out the far larger Rangers support.
Ah well. The journey is over for another year. Let's just hope we can get the necessary points to stay in the league.