Scottish Cup round-up

Forfar 0 - 3 St Johnstone

St Johnstone brushed aside Forfar this evening to advance to the fifth round of the Active Nation Scottish Cup.

The visitors headed into the game having not played for nearly four weeks but showed no signs of rustiness in seeing off their Third Division opponents.

Kenny Deuchar opened the scoring after 23 minutes, having seen his side spurn several opportunities early on, and from then on the outcome was a formality.

Liam Craig added another just before half-time before putting the game beyond any doubt early in the second half with a fine lob.

Manager Derek McInnes went for an attacking formation, with strikers Peter MacDonald and Steven Milne deployed alongside targetman Deuchar in a three-pronged attack.

Forfar, whose last match was on December 12, have a smattering of experience in their team, with former Saints man Martyn Fotheringham and veteran defender Andy Tod asked to use their big-match experience.

St Johnstone should have taken the lead after just two minutes when a cross from the left-hand side left Forfar scrambling. The ball found its way to Milne at the back post but his looping header went inches wide.

The hosts had a chance of their own after seven minutes when goalkeeper Graeme Smith failed to hold a corner, allowing the ball to drop for Ross Campbell. The striker did well to keep the ball down but was thwarted by Smith, who saved with his legs on the six-yard line.

St Johnstone should have taken the lead on 17 minutes when Chris Millar played a wonderful ball through for full-back Danny Grainger, who had galloped through the midfield. But the former Dundee United man could not get the ball under control and, despite having sprung the offside trap, was caught by Iain Campbell before he could shoot.

Forfar survived another scare on 21 minutes when Craig shot from the edge of the box but again Campbell got his body in the way to deflect it just wide.

The opening goal came just two minutes later, though, and again Grainger was heavily involved. He strolled up the left wing with the ball before picking out Deuchar, who flicked a neat header into the bottom-right corner.

The former Gretna striker almost added another after 32 minutes, this time getting on the end of a cross from Craig, but goalkeeper Alistair Brown turned the ball around the post.

Forfar were putting up a fight and came very close 60 seconds later with a Chris Templeman volley which went just wide.

But St Johnstone got the second two minutes before the break when Craig latched onto a low cross from Deuchar before turning a shot into the bottom corner from 16 yards.

Deuchar should have scored another after 48 minutes when Forfar failed to clear a David MacKay cross but he scuffed his shot wide from six yards.

St Johnstone seemed able to cut through Forfar at will and had another chance on 56 minutes when Millar set up MacDonald but the goalkeeper dived at his feet to make a brave block.

Forfar were undone 60 seconds later when Millar put the ball through for Craig and he simply lobbed a shot over Brown.

The hosts appealed for a penalty on 66 minutes when Templeman went down inside the box but referee Calum Murray waved away their claims.

With the game effectively won, St Johnstone concentrated on keeping possession and taking the sting out of Forfar's attempts to get back into the contest.

Manager McInnes brought on Murray Davidson for goal hero Craig late in the game, while youngster Stephen Reynolds – fresh back from a loan at Ayr United – replaced Milne.

Inverness CT 1 - 0 Motherwell

A FORMER England captain got the better of an ex-Scotland manager last night as Terry Butcher's Caley Thistle side scalped a Motherwell side they viewed as equals until last summer.

Craig Brown's side seemed strangely subdued after a huge win at Kilmarnock on Saturday and were unable to stamp authority.

The hosts showed little ill-effects from the lay-off stretching back to a 1-1 draw at home to title rivals Dundee on Boxing Day.

'Well had twice in the past year plunged a knife in Caley Thistle ambitions, most tellingly with a last-gasp draw at Fir Park to deny Caley Thistle SPL safety late last season.

Earlier in this campaign, a 119th minute Ross Forbes winner had also knocked the Highlanders out of the Co-op Cup.

The lengthy lay-off had given Ross Tokely time to recover from a broken hand for his 499th club appearance, albeit as a makeshift left-back.

Lukas Jutkiewicz, 'Well's on-loan Everton striker, needed treatment early on after a thumping challenge from the mustard keen Tokely.

But it was slow and studied stuff in the opening period with neither side able to gain any real foothold.

Jim O'Brien did show signs of mischief on the left flank, but the first 20 minutes produced only one harmless Giles Coke strike a couple of feet over the home cross-bar.

Caley Thistle gained some momentum mid-way through the first half and might have scored after 32 minutes.

Richie Foran's low-struck cross from the right caught Dani Sanchez unawares outside the six-yard box with the ball rebounding off his ankles for a goal-kick.

Lee Cox was carelessly lost possession to Keith Lasley after 36 minutes for possibly Well's best opportunity of the first half.

Lasley slipped a pass to Jutkiewicz inside the box but keeper Ryan Esson stood up well to block his firm strike.

Three minutes before the break, the hosts growing assertiveness reaped the opener.

A corner from Dougie Imrie, freshly on for injured Jonny Hayes, was headed back across goal by Tokely.

Adam Rooney's stab at goal was blocked on the line by Mark Reynolds but Latvian Nauris Bulvitis struck home from a couple of yards.

Brown, at the break, made an attacking switch with Jamie Murphy replacing young Saunders and immediately troubling Caley Thistle with one surging run.

Murphy again burst into the box after 49 minutes, cutting a tight-angled shot at Esson, who parried for a corner.

At the other end, Dougie Imrie missed a glorious chance for a second with a skewed header close in from Foran's cross.

As play opened up, Russell Duncan headed an O'Brien effort off the line before, at the other end, Sanchez over-ran the ball while clean away from the 'Well defence.

But a crucial second materialised for Caley Thistle in slightly bizarre circumstances after 62 minutes.

Imrie, floored by a crunching challenge and calling for treatment, was being ignored by 'Well markers when he suddenly sprang up to receive a Russell Duncan pass.

The substitute then weaved a curve around defenders outside the box before dinking a 12-yard shot into the corner of the net.

Motherwell poured energy into the final quarter of the game, but Caley Thistle resisted.

Ayr 1 - 0 Brechin

Ayr won through to face the winners of tonight's Livingston and Dundee tie in a game where the home side's cultured Ryan Stevenson and visiting goalkeeper David Scott both turned in outstanding performances.

Both teams were playing their first game of the year and the Honest Men's forwards did not take long to get back into things after their winter shutdown and they took the lead with little over 2 minutes played. Junior Mendes skipped down the right wing and crossed low where Stevenson held the ball up for Mark Roberts who steadied himself before rolling a low shot home from 10 yards out.

The home defence was not as fresh as their front line colleagues and they stood and watched a minute later as Brechin came within an inch of an equaliser. Rory McAllister ran through a static rearguard and beat Craig Samson all ends up with a delightful chip only to watch in horror as the ball struck the bar and bounced to safety.

Ayr took the game to their visitors for the rest of the first half and Scott had has hands warmed by a stinging Mendes drive in 16 minutes and then the shot-stopper leapt to his right to push away a fierce Stevenson shot from 25 yards.

The home side's captain Kevin James limped off to be replaced by Martyn Campbell, however the game continued as before with Mendes, Stevenson and Campbell also going close to adding a second. Brechin boss Jim Duffy must have been demanding his side raise their game at half time as they came out with more purpose at the start of second period and Samson had to get down low to deny Mark Docherty who had shot for goal after a determined run.

Ayr were out to gain control again and a wicked Stevenson cross from the right looked net bound all the way after Roberts headed it goalward, only for Scott to produce another fine stop.

Brechin still refused to go under and McAllister rolled the ball across the face of the Ayr goal, however no team-mates were on hand to convert.

Stevenson fooled everyone when he shaped up to blast a 30 yard free kick goalward with 10 minutes left and instead picked out Mark Roberts with a rolled pass and the striker was denied by Scott again.

The visiting shotstopper then excelled himself further as he tipped away a fierce drive from Stevenson with the home fans behind the goal trying their best to will the ball home to settle their nerves.

Albion 0 - 0 Stirling Albion

THIS pair will have to do it all again at Forthbank tomorrow (Wed) night after a dour stalemate at Cliftonhill.

Home keeper Derek Gaston was the Rovers hero with a string of fine saves but the third division outfit rarely threatened to embarrass their visitors from the league above.

Instead it was Stirling whose play had more of a cutting edge and they made the first chance when David McKenna cut in from the left flank and let fly with a firm shot which was well saved by Derek Gaston.

The Forthbank side threatened again when David O'Brien's corner was headed goalward by Ross Forsyth.

However, Gaston again came to the rescue for the Wee Rovers.

Meanwhile, Stirling counterpart Scott Christie had little difficulty in dealing with a series of long-range efforts from the hosts.

Instead Gaston was back in the thick of it on the restart, diving full length to push McKenna's netbound shot behind.

Substitute Martin Grehan missed the chance of the match when he ballooned over after Gaston had spilled Andy Gibson.

And Stirling were almost made to pay when Pat Walker fired narrowly wide at the other end.