MATCH REPORT | LATE STRIKE SEES YOUNG TERRORS MISS OUT ON PLACE IN LAST FOUR

ST JOHNSTONE 2
DUNDEE UNITED 1
SCOTTISH FA YOUTH CUP
14:00 TUESDAY 27TH JANUARY
MCDIARMID PARK

The shadow of McDiarmid Park in Perth was the setting for a Scottish FA Youth Cup Quarter-Final between United and St Johnstone. 

Line-Up

Ryan Moon made just one change to the side which was on the wrong end of last Friday’s result against Motherwell, as young full-back Owen Emslie dropped to the bench to accommodate the inclusion of fellow defender Greg Petrie.

Scott Constable dropped into right-back to complete a back four alongside Petrie, Arron Donald and 15-year-old Ollie Simpson, whilst the defensive-minded midfield duo of Keir Bertie and Craig Moore offered an additional layer of protection.
 
Stuart Heenan led the line with support from Bryan Mwangi, Adam Carnwath and Sean Borland behind him.

Turgid 

The beginning of a turgid first-half saw St Johnstone’s physicality and intensity suck all craft and guile out of the match, however this allowed them to gain the upper hand and begin to create chances.
 
The first came on ten minutes when Ben McCrystal found Jackson Mylchreest advancing into the area off the back of Petrie but the Saints striker wastefully slashed wide on the angle.
 
Then it looked as though Bailey Pert had opened the scoring as he cushioned a fabulous McCrystal delivery into the bottom corner, but the linesman’s flag cut the hosts celebrations short.
 
Jamie McCabe produced a fine save to prevent a rising Pert strike from nestling into the corner, then raced to the other side of his goal to palm McCrystal’s follow-up effort around the post.

Hosts In Control

Saints’ dominance continued as they found repeated joy by sending direct, aerial balls down the channels for overlapping full-backs Filip Franczak and Scott Bright to hunt down. On 35 minutes, Franczak latched onto an Adam McMillan pass on the burst before sending a dangerous ball across the six-yard box for McCrystal running across the area, and only a fabulus recovery challenge from Constable ensured the deadlock remained unbroken.

 
Desperate defending was needed again mere seconds later, this time Petrie clearing the ball from under his own crossbar after a Franczak cross looked to be finding Mylchreest at the front post.
 
Franczak’s brother, Fran, had a venomous half-volley from the edge of the area acrobatically tipped over the bar by McCabe as the 17-year-old continued to be the only thing keeping the scores level.
 
Another opportunity for St Johnstone fell the way of Franczak from a Bright cut-back, the midfielder forcing United stopper McCabe into a low save to his left from the penalty spot. McMillan looked set to pounce on the rebound but took a clumsy fresh-air swipe at the ball.

Shock Lead 

Against the run of play, it would be United who set themselves on course for the Semi-Final as Stuart Heenan opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time. A Route One pass from Donald into the channel was brought under control sharply by Heenan who managed to get his body in between the ball and Franczak, with the St Johnstone man proceeding to make a clumsy and mis-timed attempt at a sliding challenge in the area.

 
United frontman Heenan stepped up and sent the keeper the wrong way from 12 yards to spark jubilant celebrations amongst the Young Terrors and give them the lead heading into the interval.
 
The visitors were awarded another penalty directly from the restart after confusion between Moore and Mwangi over a ball which sat up nicely for the strike was ended by Franczak when he steamed in to intervene, bundling both United players over in the process.
 
However, after a lengthy consultation with his assistant, the referee overturned his decision and awarded a drop ball to St Johnstone.

Saints Continue Pushing 

St Johnstone’s waves of attack were becoming more difficult to repel and they were edging closer to an equaliser.

First, the well-placed Bertie cleared a free header from Joe Ellison off the line, then a calamitous passage of play saw Bright’s cross deflect off McCrystal’s chest onto the post. Franczak was on hand to head the rebound towards goal, but he too could only find the woodwork, and McCrystal’s second bite at the cherry missed the target altogether – a huge let-off for United.

 
After losing out on a 50/50 in midfield, United were caught with their line too high a neat reverse ball from Franczak found Pert racing towards goal. The winger chopped inside Constable before pulling the trigger and only Petrie’s intervention kept United’s lead intact.

Late Sucker Punches

United’s luck would eventually run out on 82 minutes as the hosts bagged the equaliser their dominant display deserved. Pert received wide on the left and found the underlapping McCrystal running towards the byline. Saints number eight squared nicely to Mylchreest who kept his composure to spin his marker and slot home into the bottom corner.
 
Things went from bad to worse for the Young Terrors deep into stoppage time. A McCrystal corner caused havoc in the area and substitute Brodie Dair was on hand to scramble the ball over the line, sending his side through to the last four of the Scottish FA Youth Cup.

United defeated by the better team on the day and will feel a huge sense of disappointment as they miss out on a place in the semi-final.

Teamlines

St Johnstone: Thompson, Fi Franczak, Bright, Fr Franczak, Ellison, McKinstray, McCrystal, McMillan, Pert, Mylchreest (Barlow, Bennett, McKimmie, Scott, Dair, Gordon)

United: McCabe. Borland, Simpson, Petrie, Donald, Constable, Bertie, Moore, Carnwath, Mwangi, Heenan (Domeracki, Haldane, Trotter, Stirton, Emslie, Cameron, Holt