Cowdenbeath 0 Partick Thistle 1
Partick Thistle reached their first national Cup final since their famous 4-1 shock League Cup success over Celtic in 1971 with a hard-fought Ramsdens Cup semi-final win over Cowdenbeath thanks to on-loan Ross County striker Steven Craig’s solitary goal.
Firhill manager Jackie McNamara may have reached the heights of a UEFA Cup Final with Celtic in his playing days and it looks like next April’s clash with Queen of the South means just as much as the Seville encounter with Porto.
McNamara said, “I was 'minus two' years old when Thistle were last in a Final so that shows you how long ago it was. It was a great day for the players and for our fans who have waited a long time for this and hopefully we can go on and win it now.”
After surviving a number of dangerous set-pieces and a Greg Stewart shot, Thistle began to assert themselves and home goalkeeper Thomas Flynn was called into serious action on 15 minutes when he made a superb double save to push away Sean Welsh's effort from 25-yards and then block Chris Erskine's rebound from close-range.
The home defence were exposed again when Sean Welsh was allowed a free-header from six yards which he could only aim straight at Flynn following a Ross Forbes free-kick.
However, the Blue Brazil almost surprised their visitors by taking the lead seconds before half-time as Marc McKenzie shot from 25-yards, however Scott Fox finger-tipped the ball past his post.
Cowdenbeath started the second half strongly and a dangerous Scott Linton long-throw resulted in Ruben Garcia blasting a deflected volley over the bar and with McNamara's men struggling to deal with McKenzie, Cowdenbeath’s Stewart fired in a drive that was deflected straight at Fox.
However, the addition of on-loan Celtic player Paul Slane with half an hour left turned things Thistle’s way and they pounced clinically on 74 minutes when Chris Erskine released Steven Lawless and he unselfishly squared the ball to Craig who tapped home from five yards.
Thistle were by no means home and dry and Kyle Miller’s shot had to be cleared off the line by Stephen O'Donnell and home goalkeeper Flynn joined the hunt for an equaliser, however it was not to be as his header from a corner drifted past.
Cowdenbeath player/ manager Colin Cameron said, “I'm hugely disappointed but the players could not have given any more. It's never easy to lose, especially in a semi-final.”
Queen of the South 2 Arbroath 1 (after extra time)
Queen of the South reached their fourth Ramsdens Cup Final since 1998 with an extra time 2-1 success over Arbroath, however for match-winner Ryan McGuffie it was a bitter sweet afternoon.
McGuffie, who featured for the Doonhamers in the 2010 Challenge Cup Final against Ross County, as well as scoring the winning penalty in the last round against Rangers at Ibrox, picked up his second booking in the competition just before the end of the 90 minutes and he will miss out against Partick Thistle in next April’s Final as a result.
The Dumfries side, who defeated the Red Lichties 6-0 last month, started the game brightly and former Don Derek Young fired them ahead after just 9 minutes.
Youngster Daniel Orsi laid the foundations with some nice wing play and when his cross was only partially dealt with it fell to Young who thumped it towards goal where it took a wicked deflection and left visiting goalkeeper Scott Morrison helpless.
Arbroath looked to hit back quickly and home shot-stopper Lee Robinson had to look sharp to keep out an effort from former Doonhamer Scott Robertson
Another former Aberdeen player came close to making it two for the home side before half-time when Nicky Clark rose to meet a Daniel Carmichael cross however his header landed on the roof of the net.
Arbroath who felt aggrieved that they were not awarded a penalty just as the first half drew to a close when Paul Currie crashed down following a Kevin Holt tackle levelled 10 minutes into the second half.
It was a straightforward goal as one time Ross County defender Alex Keddie ran in unmarked to head home a Daniel Rennie corner.
Arbroath finished the 90 minutes stronger, however they could not force a second and extra time was called for.
Carmichael and Gavin Reilly had half chances in the first 15 minutes of extended play however they failed to take them and that was also the case for Robertson and team-mate David Banjo as Arbroath retaliated.
It looked like penalties would be called for until McGuffie decided to settle the outcome of the match when he received a backwards pass from Clark on the penalty spot with just 3 minutes to go and he shot high past Morrison.
Johnston said, “It was a great finish from Ryan and winning this game shows the belief that this side has. Ryan is disappointed at missing out but he is also chuffed to bits for his team-mates.”
“We can put this to one side for the next few months and keep things going positively in the league.”
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