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Socceroos' Scottish Cup dream turns sour

3 minute read

Socceroos Martin Boyle and Jackson Irvine had dreamed of lifting the Scottish Cup for Hibernian but their hopes were dashed with a 1-0 defeat by St Johnstone.

MARTIN BOYLE of Australia. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Australia internationals Martin Boyle and Jackson Irvine have seen their Scottish Cup dreams dashed as they ended up with no winner's medals but just a booking apiece in the final at Glasgow's Hampden Park.

The Socceroos, two of the key men for Hibernian, have enjoyed a fine season but they suffered a miserable afternoon in Scottish football's showpiece at the national stadium on Saturday as their Edinburgh side went down 1-0 to St Johnstone.

Wing-back Shaun Rooney proved the Perth side's hero as he scored the 32nd minute winner, just as he'd scored the only goal in the League Cup final win over Livingston in February.

"I'll be on the pints all summer!" he beamed after his amazing double.

"It's an amazing achievement. I saw on Twitter the other day it was 10,000-1 (at the start of the season for St Johnstone to do the double), so you'd always take that!"

Yet while St Johnstone were celebrating the greatest season in their history, the Australian duo could only look back on what might have been in a match which could prove to be their last for Hibs.

It might have been so much different if Irvine's dangerous sixth minute cross had been converted by his international colleague but Boyle just swished and missed the ball completely.

Irvine then had perhaps Hibs' best chance of the match in the 27th minute when the ball broke kindly to him in the box but he saw his shot blocked by goalkeeper Zander Clark's left foot.

It proved a costly miss with the Saints going ahead five minutes later through Rooney's point-blank header and, as Hibs grew frustrated, Irvine was booked just before the break for ploughing into the back of Glenn Middleton.

Both Australians had scored en route to the final but neither looked at their best in a fairly limp performance from a side who were looking to wrap up Hibs' fourth Cup success.

Hibs' keeper Matt Macey saved a penalty from Middleton with 15 minutes to go to give them a lifeline.

But Boyle, apart from a couple of dangerous crosses, was kept pretty quiet and ended up taking a theatrical tumble in desperation in the box two minutes from time which rightly earned him a yellow card.

The future for the pair at Hibs is unclear amid media reports in Scotland suggesting they're in demand from other clubs and may end up leaving in the close season.

When Boyle was asked by reporters about this in the week's build-up to the final, he said: "I am happy here (with Hibs). That's why I signed the deal six months ago and I still have two years left, so nothing changes. It is speculation.

"Obviously, if you do well there will be speculation coming along. I have trips away with Australia in the summer, I will be coming back to pre-season with Hibs and hopefully preparing for a little European adventure."

Irvine's name, meanwhile, has been linked with a move to another Scottish Premiership club Aberdeen.

This was little St Johnstone's greatest day, though, seven years after they won their first major honour - the 2014 Scottish Cup.

So, after waiting 130 years for their first, they've now won two more trophies in just three months, with Callum Davidson's side becoming the first team outside Celtic or Rangers to land the two major cup trophies in Scotland in the same season since Aberdeen in 1989-90.