“Madness” is the word Jason Kerr used to describe the latest glory night for St Johnstone.
And, try as you might, it’s hard to find a more appropriate one for him.
The Saints captain wasn’t in the least bit surprised that his never-say-die team produced an inspirational late, late comeback to knock favourites Rangers out of the Scottish Cup.
Nor was he shocked that Zander Clark had a pivotal role to play in the tie.
It’s the contribution his goalkeeper made in the opposition box that will be the stuff of legend and the sub-plot that will take the most getting used to.
“Sunday was madness,” said the Perth skipper.
“I’ve never seen anything like that on a football pitch. It was a joy to be a part of.
“When Zander heads it he looks away. He’s obviously not seen Kano tuck it in!
“But for him to get up and win the header in the middle of the box was amazing and just shows how much character we have got.
The man of the moment.
What a performance from @Zanderr1 yesterday.
Can he inspire @StJohnstone to a Cup double this season?#ScottishCup pic.twitter.com/Z4UGBfKzqw
— Scottish Cup (@ScottishCup) April 26, 2021
“It wasn’t just the goal Zander helped us score. He made countless saves. He saved me a couple of times when I lost Morelos in the box.
“It was one of the best performances I’ve ever seen from a player.”
Kerr added: “We thought before the game that we had a chance of going far in the Scottish Cup.
“The game just epitomised what we are as a club. We’re a really good squad of players and we’ve shown that all season.
“It’s magnificent what the manager has done. He is such a good coach, such a good manager.
“We’ve beaten a really top team at a really tough venue. It was a brilliant performance.
“We’re looking forward to the semi-final but of course won’t just think we’ll win the cup now because we’ve beaten Rangers.
“We just need to keep playing the way we have been.”
Unlike Rangers, when it came to the penalty shoot-out Saints were flawless with their spot-kicks.
Liam Craig, Callum Booth and Ali McCann adopted the accuracy tactic, while Kerr went for power.
“Sometimes in training we do practice penalties,” he said.
“I always have confidence I’m going to score. I normally just blast it down the middle, which doesn’t give the goalkeeper much chance to save it.
“When a centre-half is walking up to take a penalty, others might not be too confident. But I was confident.
“The second I said to the gaffer that I would take one, I knew I was going to blast it middle/left. If you hit the ball as hard as you can – and it’s on target – they aren’t going to save it.
“We had won on penalties against Dunfermline in the Betfred Cup so we were all confident.
“And we have big Zander in the goals. You get confidence from that straight away. Fortunately we tucked away all four.”
