A few days later the Allan Johnstone saga finally came to a conclusion when he signed until the end of the season. He was offered a deal before the international break so you have to wonder how committed he is to our cause, plus he has had injury problems - he didn't play at all for Kilmarnock last season. You can't deny his pedigree, having played for Hearts, Rangers, Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Scotland, but he is 36 - plus do we really need another midfielder? What is he supposed to other that the likes of Garry Brady and Stephen O'Donnell don't, and if he does offer something they can;t then why are they here? I'll hold my breath on this one. Former Saint David van Zanten is now training with the squad following his release from Hibs, but the chances of him being offered a deal are slim at best.
Johnstone missed the midweek cup trip to Kilmarnock but a couple of our other midfielders decided to get in on the scoring act. Stephen McGinn scored a superb goal in the second half (he seems to like Rugby Park) that looked to be enough for a victory, only for Kevin Kyle to continue his torment of John Potter by scoring a header while being marked by the Saints captain with just three minutes left. However, deep into stoppage time, Steven Thomson set up Andy Dorman to score his first goal of the season and send us through to the quarter-finals. We were way, way overdue a late winner and a home game against Motherwell is our reward. It's certainly winnable.
Hopefully, if Virgin get things sorted, normal service should be resumed on the site very shortly. This week's Millennium Champions piece and the preview for tomorrow's game against Celtic will shortly be online. The report should be online by tomorrow evening and after that it's just a case of playing things by ear.