2005/6 Review of the Season (3)
Last updated : 11 June 2006 By Firparkcorner
St Mirren had already been dealt with in the League Cup but they got their revenge in the Scottish. A huge Motherwell support travelled through to Paisley but the team just did not perform and in the end we could have few complaints about the Buddies' 3-0 victory. Next up was an Old Firm double header at Fir Park – we contrived to lose both although we should probably have beaten Rangers and drawn with Celtic. Jim Hamilton did score the goal of the season against the green half though.
Sammy wished up luck
ICT had won both of their new year league fixtures and we found ourselves five points adrift of sixth. A 1-1 draw at East End Park did little to help us but by then thoughts were turning to our next Hampden trip. Celtic were the opponents and we knew that if we could somehow defeat them we would face relegation strugglers in the final, Dunfermline having defeated Livi in the other semi. We went 1-0 up, thanks to a Foran header, but despite dominating the game and making countless chances the match seemed set for extra time. Unfortunately Corrigan tried to be too fancy under pressure, Smith was forced to catch his pass back and Maloney punished us from the free kick. It was a cruel and disappointing end to our cup run and with the league situation being how it was our season went a bit flat.
The Team at Hampden
We lost to
Kilmarnock yet again before finally recording our first win of 2006 with a victory against
Dundee United.
A gubbing at
Tynecastle left us in eighth place at the end of March – 6 behind ICT and 5 behind
Aberdeen.
The next few games were vital if we were to drag ourselves back into contention.
But we did.
A penalty saw us win a six pointer in
Inverness and a routine success over
Falkirk kept us in the hunt.
It took a last minute equaliser to gain us a point at home to
Hibs from a game we should have won but by now we were right back in it – level with ICT and only one behind the Dons, with our next game being at
Pittodrie.
This was the game that would make or break the league campaign and while we did supremely well to draw from 2-0 down, a win was needed. We needed another last minute winner to squeeze past Livingston and this dragged our competitive season out to the last pre-split game.
Aberdeen were on 45, we were on 44 and ICT were 43. A Dons win would guarantee them the top six spot while we had to win at Ibrox and hope for the best from other matches. Could we do it?
2005/6 Part 4
Review of 2004/5
Review of 2003/4
Review of 2002/3
Review of 2001/2