MacPherson: Dorman will come good

Posted Tuesday, September 22, 2009 by PA

St Mirren manager Gus MacPherson is hoping Andy Dorman's last-gasp winner against Kilmarnock in the Co-operative Insurance Cup will act as the springboard for his season.

The midfielder came off the bench to claim the decisive goal in stoppage time and send Saints into the quarter-finals, after Kevin Kyle had levelled late in the game to cancel out Stephen McGinn's opener.

Dorman started on the bench because MacPherson feels he has not yet hit the lofty heights of last season but the Buddies boss hopes that is all about to change after his morale-boosting strike.

He said: "He's had a slow start to the season, similar to last season. But he is a quality player and is a big player for us.

"Anyone who can score 12 goals from midfield is a real threat and a big player for a club like St Mirren.

"He will come good, there is no doubt about that, and he will score goals."

MacPherson felt Saints had two decent penalty shouts denied when the tie was goalless, when Billy Mehmet went to ground in the box in the first minute and Steven Old appeared to handle later in the first half, but refused to criticise referee Dougie McDonald.

"I called for both and I believed they were both penalties," he said.

"But I won't speak about the referees and it's not just because we won the game."

Both sides had chances to win the third-round tie and MacPherson admitted: "The game could have gone either way.

"In the first half both teams had chances. We got the goal and it gave us confidence and we defended well apart from the cross when Kevin Kyle scored.

"It looked like being another 30 minutes and I don't think either side wanted that, so we were grateful that Dorman popped up with the goal."

However, Kilmarnock boss Jim Jefferies insists his team would have been most likely to snatch victory had the game remained all square after 90 minutes.

He said: "If the game had gone into extra time, well, there was only one team who would have had a lift.

"But the boy did well to slip through for Dorman and he doesn't miss those. We were hoping for extra time and a chance to regroup because the players were up for it and the crowd was up for it.

"But we will never know now what would have happened."