SPFL awards: Cowdenbeath | St Johnstone | Alan Muir

COWDENBEATH avoided the drop and Stirling Albion were promoted however the weekend really belonged to St Johnstone.

Cowdenbeath celebrate securing their Championship safety. Picture: SNS

A marathon wait for a trophy was ended with the Perth side lifting the William Hill Scottish Cup at the expense of Dundee United and several Scotsman Weekly Website Awards are heading left at Broxden Roundabout for McDiarmid Park.

Only one issue now remains unresolved in Scottish football this season and that is who will be in the Premiership after this weeks’ two legged play-off between Hibs and Hamilton Accies.

The Lanarkshire side won through to the final after coming out on top of the three teams from the Championship battling with their second chance for promotion and can now look to hand Hibs a truly horrific end to their season.

The Blue Brazil had the best result of the three Fife sides in action this weekend and they will face the fourth Fife side Raith Rovers in the Championship as a result.

Good week for – St Johnstone, Cowdenbeath, Stirling Albion and Alan Muir

St Johnstone started their season with a win over Rosenberg and ended it by winning the Scottish Cup. Not so much a good week but a great season for the Perth men as they now have their name carved on as winners of a national trophy.

Cowdenbeath will play against Rangers and Hearts as well as 7 other Championship side’s next season after carrying out what even their players described as ‘The Great Escape’.

Also well done to the eagle-eyed Alan Muir for adding value to the role of additional assistant referees when he correctly spotted that Stevie May’s second half header at Celtic Park had not crossed the line.

Bad week for – Dundee United and Dunfermline

It was meant to be the day that United’s swashbuckling young side would show the footballing world what they are capable of by lifting the Scottish Cup. The Tannadice men can look to fine margins costing them against St Johnstone with Ryan Dow’s shot hitting the post and missing Alan Mannus and Nadir Ciftci’s free kick hitting the bar and sicking under the shot-stopper.

However they were actually beaten by a team that were better on the day and Saints will now go into Europe and United will not.

The Pars were hoping for a quick bounce back to the Championship however they were beaten 3-0 at home by their much smaller Cowdenbeath neighbours – that must have hurt.

Team of the week – St Johnstone

There can only be one winner this weekend despite Hamilton moving on to face Hibs, Cowdenbeath retaining their Championship status and Stirling Albion being promoted.

One hundred and thirty years of not winning anything ended for St Johnstone when they defeated Dundee United to win the Scottish Cup on Saturday.

A crowd equivalent to a third of the town’s population turned out to back them and Tommy Wright’s side made every one of them proud.

Manager of the week – Tommy Wright (St Johnstone)

PFA Scotland and the Scottish Football Writers will probably now agree that their premature voting process has denied Wright the title of Manager of the Year this season. Both awards went to Derek McInnes primarily for breaking a 19 year wait for a trophy.

For breaking a 130-year wait for a trophy Wright deserves the Scotsman Weekly Website Award.

Scottish Cup Player of the week – Steven Anderson (St Johnstone)

Sometimes football throws up nice stories and a long serving defender scoring the goal in a Cup Final against the club that released him as a kid is not just the remit of storytellers.

Anderson, who is in his testimonial season, was solid at the back and dangerous in attack as St Johnstone won the Scottish Cup with his goal just before half time proving to be a defining moment in the contest.

Scottish Cup Goal of the week – Steven Anderson (St Johnstone)

Only two to choose from but Anderson’s was a slightly better strike than Steven MacLean’s. The defender rose at the back post to head home a David Wotherspoon corner and even though Radoslaw Cierzniak made his job easier Anderson did what he had to do.

Remarkably Anderson scored against United last month with a header at the back post and it looks like no-one at Tannadice learnt their lesson.