I found yesterday altogether more satisfying than one ordinarily would in a game that meant comparatively little to us when set against some of post-split fixtures we've played in recent times.
How utterly delightful to send McCann, McGowan et al back up to Tayside snivelling and whining all the way. I see some post-match attempts at deflection going on (again) from McCann but if I were him I'd be absolutely fizzing with his side for failing to take anything from yesterday.
I don't know if I'd agree with Stephen Robinson that we conceded against the run of play. I thought started shakily, they should really have scored after about 15 seconds, and routinely made chances against us throughout the half. Some strong claims around us in the East Stand at half-time about the ball going out of play before their goal and some foul play in the box (haven't seen the highlights yet), but surely rule number should apply here - you play to the whistle. We didn't appear to do so and were punished for it, potential officiating errors notwithstanding.
We had of course hit the post by then ourselves and it was important that we got level so quickly. It looked a pretty well worked set piece at first glance. We got a real boost from scoring and the intensity rose until the Bowman injury. I'm afraid that just seemed lunacy that he remained on the park as long as he did before going off. It's not even a case of being wise after the event he never improved beyond limping and if there was any doubt whatsoever he should have been straight off. It has been my major fear since the Semi-Final about either Main or Bowman getting injured given our paucity of options up front and we've now seen both succumb to varying degrees.
Second half I was actually very impressed with our tempo and how much control we had until the last 10-15 minutes. Wonderful to see Cedric finally get his goal and the resultant two or three minute celebration but apart from that one occasion where their double-barrelled named loanee, whose name escapes, me had his shot blocked after he mis-controlled I was pleased how much of the game was being played in their half.
It kind of fell away a little, perhaps co-incidentally - or perhaps not, when Allan Campbell went off but we showed good resilience to complete the job with Bigi hounding McGowan and forcing him to retreat, retreat, and retreat once more as he attempted to launch a final attack a great way to finish the game.
All in all a great win in a game that had much more meaning for our opponents than ourselves. I didn't think James Scott had a massive impact in all honesty but his development will be a lot better for his experiences yesterday and I was particularly impressed with the mobility that Grimshaw showed. He has always had tenacity and doggedness but I think his sharpness has really benefited from his recent regular inclusion and his performances gone up a lot as consequence.
A good afternoon.