Saints edge epic shoot-out after Firhill goal bonanza

Published on Wednesday 31 August 2005 00:44

FIRHILL lived up to its reputation for thrills with an incredible 120-minute goal avalanche last night as St Johnstone prevailed 8-7 on penalties after a 4-4 draw with Partick Thistle in the Bell's Cup second round.

The first hour of the match meandered along goalless but the tie exploded into life when Mark Roberts struck for Partick in the 61st minute only for Peter MacDonald to equalise two minutes later. It seemed as if Saints would come out on top when Kevin Rutkiewicz put them ahead with ten minutes remaining but in injury time Jukka Santala equalised.

That was just the prelude to an amazing extra 30 minutes as first Steve McConologue struck to give Thistle the lead yet again only for Stephen Dobbie to haul Saints level. Again the Second Division side went ahead with a Sean Kilgannon spot kick but in the last minute of extra time Neil Janczyk made it 4-4.

Dundee and Airdrie United could not be separated after 120 minutes either after battling out a 1-1 draw in normal time and failing to trouble the net in the subsequent half-hour. The Dens Park side struck first through Scott Robertson in 36 minutes but Brian McPhee levelled seven minutes into the second period. In the ensuing penalty shoot-out it was Dundee who held their nerve to win 3-2.

An Andy Rodgers goal eight minutes into extra time gave Dumbarton the lead against Raith Rovers after a goalless 90 minutes. But then Mark Dempsie put into his own goal to haul the sides level after 112 minutes before Paul McManus struck the winner for the Kirkcaldy side six minutes later.

Injury-hit Hamilton Accies shrugged off their pre-match worries with a 1-0 win at Ross County. The decisive strike came at the end of the first half when Alex Neil met a Brian Carrigan cross to head powrfully past keeper Stuart Garden.

Morton striker Chris Templeman came back to haunt his former club Brechin City as the Greenock side went on to clinch their place in tomorrow's quarter-final draw with a 2-0 win. Templeman opened the scoring just before the half-hour mark when he met a Derek Lilley cross.

Then Templeman turned provider as he forced his way past two defenders before finding Lilley, who headed in the second two minutes from the interval.