Holmes is a Thorn in the Jags side (1957)

(first published in the match programme for St. Mirren v Partick Thistle, 8^th March 2026)

St. Mirren and Partick Thistle entered the 1957 Scottish Cup at the Fifth Round stage and were paired together at Love Street on 2^nd February 1957 in what became a marathon tie, requiring three matches and two periods of extra time to determine who would progress.

St. Mirren marked the occasion by producing Issue no. 163 of their standard eight-page programme. The cover displayed the familiar photograph of “Cairter’s Corner” above the match details, along with notice of the forthcoming Reserve League meeting with Queen of the South on the following Saturday.

The usually blank portion of page two was used to list the opponents and scores from St. Mirren’s victorious 1926 Cup campaign, still the Club’s only success in the competition at that time. The page also listed the remaining eleven League fixtures for the season - a feature rarely seen in the programme before then.

The “Club Notes”, which occupied pages three and six, welcomed the visitors and ironically referred to the “sudden death” nature of the competition, given what would unfold over the next few days. Saints had defeated The Jags in the Third Round of that Cup-winning run of 1926, but there was an acknowledgement that League victories over the Firhill side had been scarce in the years since.

Although predicting the outcome of the Cup-tie was difficult, all at Love Street could take encouragement from the previous week’s 4-1 League win over Queen’s Park. It had been Saints’ first victory of the year, with newcomers Willie McCulloch and Peter McKay both finding the net. McKay, however, was ineligible for the Cup tie due to an SFA rule requiring players to be signed at least 14 days before a Cup match.

In other news, Willie Telfer had submitted a third transfer request, which the Board had now accepted, while Tommy Gemmell’s return to form had earned him a place as travelling reserve for the Scotland “B” side’s forthcoming match against England.

The centre pages accurately displayed the team line-ups, whilst page seven’s Half-Time Scoreboard listed all but one of the other Scottish Cup ties being played that day, the omission being Stenhousemuir’s match against Dundee United.

A healthy crowd of 25,363 saw an already makeshift visiting team further depleted after just 20 minutes when defender Davidson was carried off with an ankle injury. Remarkably, the ten men took the lead just four minutes later when a MacKenzie cross came down off the bar and presented Smith with an easy tap in. Davidson later resumed at outside-right and Thistle maintained their lead until the interval.

Saints came more into the game after the restart and, in the 59^th minute, a McCulloch corner was met by Bobby Holmes, whose header flashed past Thistle ‘keeper Ledgerwood to level the tie at 1-1.

The replay was scheduled for Firhill on Wednesday, 6^th February. Partick made a request to play the match under floodlights, but St. Mirren - who had yet to install lights at Love Street – refused, considering it a disadvantage. The match therefore kicked off at 2.30pm.

A crowd of 13,049 saw Saints start strongly, with Holmes, Telfer and McCulloch passing up early chances. Yet it was Partick’s Smith who again opened the scoring in the 18^th minute. Likewise, it was Holmes who headed Saints’ equaliser four minutes later. St. Mirren’s good work was undone in the 27^th minute when Billy Dallas conceded a penalty and Mathers restored Thistle’s lead.

The Firhill men dominated much of the second half, but when Devine was tripped in the box in the 65^th minute, Holmes again stepped up to equalise from the spot and Saints finished the 90 minutes the stronger side. Extra time followed and, whilst entertaining, there were no further goals and the tie ended 2-2.

Ibrox had been earmarked as the neutral venue for the Second Replay on Monday 11^th February but, after Rangers advised that their already threadbare pitch could not withstand a League fixture on the Saturday and a Cup tie 48 hours later, the SFA switched the match to Hampden, again with a 2.30pm start.

A crowd of 12,569 watched a goalless first half despite chances at both ends. Within a minute of the restart, however, Thistle again struck first when McParland shot past the outrushing Campbell Forsyth. As in the previous two encounters, Saints levelled through a Holmes header — this time from a Devine free-kick fifteen minutes from time.

The extra half hour belonged entirely to St. Mirren. Davie Lapsley and McCulloch scored within the first four minutes before McCulloch and Telfer added further goals in the second period to complete a resounding 5–1 victory and finally settle the tie.

No programmes were produced for the replayed matches.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to avoid fixture congestion, it was ruled that later rounds of the 2020/21 Scottish Cup would be decided on the day, with extra-time and penalties as necessary. After agreement by all member clubs, this ruling was extended to all rounds of the National tournament from 2022/23 onwards.