Kevin Thomson lauds Kelty Hearts and says one St Johnstone comparison grated with him

Kelty Hearts manager Kevin Thomson.Kelty Hearts manager Kevin Thomson.
Kelty Hearts manager Kevin Thomson.
Kevin Thomson hailed his Kelty Hearts heroes after a 1-0 win over St Johnstone sent them into the Scottish Cup fifth round draw at the expense of the holders.

The manager's game-plan worked to a tee as the hosts restricted Saints to few opportunities before Kallum Higginbotham' s extra-time strike sealed a historic win for the League Two leaders.

And Thomson was quick to point out the difference in budget between the two sides after having to contend with suggestions that Kelty are spending their way to success in the lower leagues.

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“It’s brilliant for the town, I’m delighted for everybody because the backing we’ve had has been unbelievable," he said.

“But it does grate a bit when people talk about budgets, because there was certainly no budget comparison today," he said.

“What we achieved was through sheer quality and desire and drive.

“I said to them before the game that we ain’t here to make the numbers up. This isn’t a free hit for us.

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“That’s not the way I want us to think. I wanted us to think we were capable of winning this game.

“Fair play to them, they executed the game-plan. We were stuffy, we were difficult to break down and we were well organised,

“And when we did get the ball back, especially late on when they were chasing the game a wee bit, I thought we probably could have sealed the game on the counter.

“From open play, I’m struggling to think how many chances they had.

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“We were playing against a team three leagues above us, a Premiership team, and we knew we would have to be disciplined and patient.

“And when we did get the ball back we had to be good on it.

“I think you could see with the subs we made, we wanted to try to win.

“And, to a man, I have to say the boys were unbelievable.

“I said to them at the start of the game, ‘if you trust our shape and show a bit of quality, you will get chances’.

“When those chances come, you hope they fall to the right player and, thankfully for us, it did with Kallum."

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