St. Mirren - The Run In
Our third trip north in four matches should produce another win, and thats exactly what it did do. Early goals from Jeremy Perbet and Stephen Dobbie set us on easy street at Peterhead, and although we failed to really rub salt in the wound, nevertheless we had reached the Semi-Finals of the Cup, where as luck would have it, we would play Celtic. Yet with the other Semi being a match up between Hearts and Rangers, that meant we were now guaranteed a place in the UEFA Cup and that was certainly not something to be sniffed at.
The title was beyond our grasp - if truth be told it was never really in our grasp - and second place was slipping away, but I would not be happy if we slipped from 3rd, even if there was little difference between 3rd or 4th in reality. A home match with Rangers was one we had to win to have any chance at all of chasing for second, and when Perbet sent us ahead just after the hour that seemed on the cards. Liverpool loanee - Liverpool being
our parent club and the player should have been with
us - Paul Anderson though levelled the match seven minutes from time and our last chance of a Champions League place had gone.
A tough trip to Easter Road was won thanks an 85th minute Paul Di Giacomo goal, but at home against Livingston we just couldn't score and had to settle for a goalless draw. At Celtic Park we just couldn't compete as we capitulated 2-0, but luckily enough we had First Division bound St Johnstone next and a brace from Dobbie was added to by Perbet and altogether easy victory.
At Tannadice though it was a different story, as we went 2-0 down after just 13 minutes. A great second half fight back though saw another Dobbie Double and a single from Santos, but a late injury time strike from Ross McCormack meant the points were shared. At Hampden, our Scottish Cup hopes were do down faster than a Portuguese winger, as Celtic once more put us to the sword, this time by 3-0 and I am seriously getting sick of these bastards.
Never rains but it pours and as luck would have it, our first match after the split was at home to Celtic. At least this time we were a bit more competitive and ended up with a decent enough 2-2 draw. For some stupid reason we were at Tannadice again, and this time there was no coming back as we went down rather tamely by three goals to one. As we headed into the final three matches, our last home match of the season was against Motherwell and fringe player Graeme Dorrans was given the chance to show what he can do. To be fair to the player, he did bag two goals in our 3-1 win, but that didn't prevent me selling him to Sheffield United at the end of the season.
Our penultimate game could well have been a fairly important one at Tynecastle, but with both teams guaranteed now UEFA Cup football it was fairly irrelevant who came 3rd or 4th. Nevertheless I really wanted 3rd, the best of the rest, and Stephen Dobbie duly obliged as he rattled in five goals to make sure of the SPL top scorers crown. Jeremy Perbet added a brace as we annihilated Hearts by an astonishing seven goals to one. If we had done this every week, the title would be ours for sure.
As fate would have it, our final game of the season would be at Ibrox. Rangers were neck and neck on points with Celtic, but would need to beat us at least 8-0 to secure the title. It was never going to happen, and anyone who thought we would lie down and let the boys in blue win were in for a huge shock. A Jeremy Perbet hattrick and strike from Luke Varney saw us blitz Rangers title chances and said title to Celtic on a plate with an amazing 4-1 win.
In the end, it has been an excellent season for us. There have been many frustrations, but we are not I feel all that far away from challenging the Old Firm and I certainly feel we have the mastering of Rangers anyway. The UEFA Cup should be a great experience and the squad has been strengthened by the arrivals of Rangers trio Kevin Thomson, Alan Hutton and Charlie Adam - all deemed surplus to requirements by new Rangers boss Richard Gough - and the sensational scoop of Hibernian right midfielder Scott Brown.
The future is looking bright indeed......
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