ST JOHNSTONE manager Steve Lomas admitted he was relieved to see his side finally book a spot in the Scottish Cup fifth round after their fourth round tie at Cowdenbeath went ahead at the fifth time of asking.
Saints ran out comfortable enough 3-0 winners at Central Park, with goals from David McCracken, a Steven MacLean penalty and a late strike from Gregory Tade seeing the Perth side safely through.But Lomas revealed that he was simply glad to see the fixture fulfilled afterfrozen pitches had caused havoc with Saints’ schedule.“We’re glad to get rid of this fixture that’s it in a nutshell,” he said.“It became a little bit of a pain and we wanted to get it out of the way. The last thing we wanted was a replay so we’re delighted just to get through and put it to bed.“The performance was OK, we’re through, and that’s all I can really say about it.It was nice to get a clean sheet, but we’ll certainly have to raise our game against Aberdeen this weekend if we want to get something up there.”Lomas was full of praise for Saints’ First Division opponents and was simply glad to see his team negotiate a tricky encounter on a tight pitch.He added: “All credit to Cowdenbeath we had a few hairy moments and they had a couple of chances but it’s all about getting through it.It wasn’t the easiest performance on the eye but it’s all about being in that hat.“It’s never easy having two games in three days, so it’s a bit of a nonsense really.St Mirren away will be another tough one but we’ll look after that when it comes around.”Cowden boss Colin Cameron bemoaned his side’s inability to convert the chances they created.“That’s been the story for the last six or seven games for us,” he added. “We’ve created five or six good chances and their keeper has had a couple of good saves, so I think 3-0 is a bit harsh on us.“I can certainly take more positives than negatives from tonight and some of the guys were amazing.We didn’t have the luxury of comingin yesterday and getting massages Thomas O’Brien got finished his work at 5.40 and then comes here and puts in a great shift.“I thought the lads were great.”csmith@thecourier.co.uk