The last time Aberdeen travelled to Paisley on league duty a month ago, Matty Kennedy endured a frustrating debut during a dour stalemate while Derek McInnes was told to visit a place you won’t find in the travel brochures by some disgruntled sections of the visiting support.
Contrast that to the scenes on Saturday night. Kennedy put in a driving, determined display while those hitherto brassed off supporters engulfed the Aberdeen players with unbridled gusto when Sam Cosgrove put St Mirren to the sword in injury time and secured a semi-final berth in the William Hill Scottish Cup.
Getting to the last four in the domestic showpiece is hardly a new experience for McInnes. He’s taken Aberdeen to five semi-finals during his tenure, after all. For Kennedy, though, the trip to Hampden will be a step into the unknown. “I’ve never played at Hampden and, hopefully, when the gaffer names the team for the semi-final, my name will be on the team-sheet,” he said.
Kennedy wasn’t even a faint chink of light in his faither’s eye let alone a twinkle when Aberdeen last won the Scottish Cup three decades ago. He was born five years after their 1990 conquest. Here in 2020, though, the 25-year-old is keen for a silver lining of his own.
“It (Cup success) was definitely a factor for me in coming here,” added the former St Johnstone player. “The manager was the main reason I came, along with the history and the size of the club as well. It was a no-brainer.
“I want to go to cup finals and I want to win trophies. I feel I’m good enough to play in a team which goes to finals and competes for silverware. That’s the reason why I came.”
On a dismal evening, Lewis Ferguson put Aberdeen on their way to victory with a delightfully executed opening goal after just seven minutes but chances were few and far between thereafter. St Mirren were tireless in their efforts to find an equaliser but they would have needed an Ordnance Survey map to find a route to goal and all their possession failed to open up a path. Cosgrove’s penalty in the last knockings finally put the tin lid on affairs.
“For the first 15 or 20 minutes, I think we actually played some really good football, considering the weather and the pitch but there was also spells where the ball was in the air a lot and a lot of 50-50s,” said Kennedy of the attritional battle. “Listen, it doesn’t matter how you play. If you’re in the next round of the cup, then that’s the main thing.”
St Mirren now have to dust themselves down and continue their fight against relegation, starting with a tussle with St Johnstone on Wednesday.
"In Austria we say our 'daily bread' is the league season,” said the on-loan Austrian, Seifedin Chabbi, who made his debut from the bench. "Now we we have to concentrate on that. We have to accept we’re out of the cup and look forward.”
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