Former Rangers goalkeeper Jak Alnwick was the hero as St Mirren reached the Scottish Cup semi-finals after a penalty shootout win over Kilmarnock on Monday.
Alnwick moved to Ibrox from Port Vale in 2017 and was a Ger for three years, although he only made eleven appearances and spent a lot of time out on loan.
He was released by the club last summer but rather than heading back to England, he remained in Scotland, joining St Mirren on a two-year deal.
Jim Goodwin immediately made the 27-year-old his number one and he’s rewarded his manager with strong form, keeping 12 clean sheets from 41 appearances in all competitions, with ten of those coming in the Premiership.
Shutouts have been relatively elusive recently for the Buddies, but Alnwick was still the hero on Monday night as they squeezed past Killie in a thrilling Scottish Cup quarter-final tie.
The former Ger conceded twice in the first half of the game and once in extra-time, but his teammates also scored three times across the 120 minutes, so the tie went to penalties.
Alnwick then saved Killie’s second spot-kick – taken by Rory McKenzie – with his feet while diving to his right.
It was to be the only unsuccessful penalty on either side and as a result, the Buddies progressed to the last four.
It’s a big achievement for the Paisley club, as it’s the first time they have qualified for both the Scottish Cup and the League Cup semi-finals in the same season since 1981/82.
In other news, Rangers’ U18s played out a six-goal thriller with Celtic on Tuesday afternoon.
