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A closer look at St Johnstone's route to the Scottish Cup final

A closer look at St Johnstone's route to the Scottish Cup final
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Goalkeeper Zander Clark has played key roles at both ends and in a penalty shoot-out.

St Johnstone and Hibernian face off in Saturday's Scottish Cup final at Hampden.

Callum Davidson's Betfred Cup winners are looking to lift a rare trophy double for a non-Old Firm side.

Here the PA news agency takes a look at the Perth side's route to the final.

Third Round – Dundee 0 St Johnstone 1

Guy Melamed's strike handed Saints victory in this Tayside Derby at Dens Park but the Perth side had goalkeeper Zander Clark to thank after he saved a late Charlie Adam penalty and denied the Dee the chance to take it to extra time.

Relieved boss Davidson said: "They have a Premiership squad in my opinion so I knew it was going to be a really tough game with the likes of Charlie Adam involved. He's a top-class player and I thought he would score because I have watched him take penalties enough times. But it's a fantastic save."

Fourth Round – St Johnstone 2 Clyde 0

It was game over inside 21 minutes as goals from Guy Melamed and Michael O'Halloran put Saints in front, but Davidson was frustrated his team did not run up a bigger scoreline against Danny Lennon's League One strugglers.

He said: "It's a job well done. I thought in the first half we were very good. I actually really enjoyed the performance. For me, we probably should have scored a couple more goals to take the game away from Clyde."

Quarter-final – Rangers 1 St Johnstone 1 (St Johnstone win 4-2 on pens)

St Johnstone players swamp goalkeeper Zander Clark after his Ibrox heroics
St Johnstone players swamp goalkeeper Zander Clark after his Ibrox heroics (Andrew Milligan/PA)

James Tavernier thought he had snatched victory for Steven Gerrard's Premiership champions with three minutes left of extra-time – but that was just the start of the drama as Saints keeper Clark raced forward for a corner to head the ball down for Chris Kane's 122nd-minute equaliser before pulling off two saves in the shoot-out to send the jubilant McDiarmid men through.

Clark jokingly tried to claim the goal before adding: "Hopefully by winning the first cup we have given ourselves a chance to try and get to another final. It's massive for everyone involved at the club."

Semi-final – St Mirren 1 St Johnstone 2

St Johnstone's Glenn Middleton made the difference at Hampden
St Johnstone's Glenn Middleton made the difference at Hampden (Andrew Milligan/PA)

Glenn Middleton produced a second-half star cameo to book Covid-hit Saints' place in the final, first setting up Kane for the opener before sweeping home with a sublime free-kick to render Connor McCarthy's late strike for the Buddies meaningless.

Davidson – who saw four players forced to self-isolate before the Hampden clash – said: "We've hardly trained this week. But the players' attitude was tremendous. I'm just delighted for them. Glenn came on and produced the magic which you sometimes need to get to a final."

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St Johnstone manager Callum Davidson celebrates after the match on May 9, 2021
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Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
Championship Group
1Celtic330087285987
2RangersRangers320179275281
3Hearts311149371266
4Kilmarnock31114538755
5St Mirren31024247-546
6Dundee30034662-1641
Relegation Group
1Aberdeen33004149-844
2Motherwell32015554143
3Hibernian31024858-1042
4Ross County31023564-2933
5St Johnstone30032652-2631
RLivingston32012764-3724
 
First Phase
1Celtic33246380265478
2RangersRangers33243672234975
3Hearts33195946341262
4Kilmarnock33131284334951
5St Mirren33127143843-543
6Dundee331011124454-1041
7Hibernian33912124451-739
8Motherwell33813124651-537
9Aberdeen33811143549-1435
10St Johnstone33710162446-2231
11Ross County3379173256-2430
RLivingston3339212259-3718


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