SPL Betting Preview: St Mirren target Old Firm double

Scottish Football / John Girvan / 24 April 2009 / Leave a Comment

The controversies of the post-split season are put aside this weekend as St Mirren aim to produce more cup heroics against Rangers. John Girvan makes his Homecoming Scottish Cup semi-final picks...

The post split SPL fixture list always causes controversy and this year is certainly no different. Where the top end is concerned it can only ever be fair and equal if the top six are the same as the previous seasons and how realistic is that?

Hearts have been given the bum deal of trips to Celtic Park and a third visit to Ibrox but it's Celtic who have spoken out - they have written to the SPL asking for an explanation of their rationale. The Parkhead side are said to be frustrated that Rangers avoid a second visit to Tynecastle, where they lost in November.

The arguments can be put to one side temporarily, however, for this weekend's semi-finals of The Homecoming Scottish Cup. St Mirren are looking for an Old Firm double on Saturday but failure will give either Falkirk or Dunfermline a shot at Europe on Sunday.

St Mirren and Rangers meet on Saturday in a 12:15pm kick-off and the match is live on Sky Sports One. The sides have a long history in this tournament having been drawn together 15 times and it goes way back to 1896 when Rangers recorded the first of their 14 Scottish Cup wins over Saints. The Buddies forced replays in 1922 and 1983 and their solitary triumph came 83 years ago.

The pair met two weeks ago when Rangers, who are [1.2] to lift the cup, became the first side to record a win at New St Mirren Park. The 2-1 victory at Greenhill Road was a game of two halves in which Rangers were totally dominant in the first and were 2-0 up within 20 minutes. The second 45 was a different story however as Saints rallied, pulled one back, and really made Walter Smith's men sweat it out for the three points.

Last week's 2-0 win at Motherwell was the Paisley side's first in the league since December so it appears they have been saving all their big performances for the Cup and they are [12.5] to lift the trophy. The 1-0 home win over Celtic in the quarter-final was a shock however, especially when you consider they had shipped a whopping seven goals at Celtic Park the week before.

The Cup always has an element of surprise but Rangers are on a run of four straight wins and another on Saturday will match their best winning streak since September. They are getting their noses in front but have been guilty recently of letting opponents back into the game before grinding it out in the end.

The holders kick-off at [1.36] in the Match Odds. They are getting in amongst the goals, scoring eight in their last three and Rangers -1.0&-1.5 at [1.84] appealing. St Mirren pose a threat of their own however, especially through Dorman, who has been linked with both the Old Firm this week, and a safer play is perhaps Over 2.5 goals at [1.88].

Provided Saturday's match goes to form the winners of Sunday's other semi-final between Falkirk and Dunfermline will go into Europe next season.

For The Pars, Greg Sheilds looks almost certain to miss the rest of the season whilst Kevin Harper, Graeme Holmes, Simon Wiles and Scott Muirhead are all out for the trip to Hampden. Jamie Mole and Scott Wilson are rated 50/50 but Stephen Glass looks set to return.

Dunfermline reached this stage two seasons ago where they faced Hibernian. Then, it was current boss Jim McIntyre who scored the winner, a cheeky penalty, and he insists that his team will rise to the occasion no matter who plays: "They have shown this year that they have no fear when it comes to cup competitions and hopefully they can continue that for the semi-final".

The East End Park club are [7.0] to go all the way this year and sit sixth in a hugely competitive Irn-Bru First Division. A run of four straight defeats over February and March effectively ended their promotion hopes but they have steadied the ship lately with just one defeat in the last five. This was at home to first placed St Johnstone and they are just three points off a third place finish, which would be no embarrassment.

Falkirk are [6.6] for Cup glory but are rock bottom of the SPL and four points adrift of safety, having taken just four points from the last five league games. They have faced both the Old Firm in this period however and will take a bit of confidence from both the 4-0 home win over relegation rivals Caley Thistle and last week's home draw with third placed Hearts.

It is well documented that Yogi Hughes' men play decent football and on the big Hampden playing surface I expect their SPL qualities to shine through against a depleted Dunfermline. Back Falkirk in the Match Odds at [2.18].