Andrew Considine's cup defeat shame

Apr 13 2008 By Gavin Berry

ANDREW CONSIDINE thought bagging a brace at Hampden would have put him in dreamland but instead he was left EMBARRASSED after suffering defeat to First Division Queen of the South.

The Aberdeen stopper was right in the thick of the incredible seven-goal Scottish Cup semi-final as he scored two but his defence shipped four in a 4-3 loss.

And the nightmare defeat has led Considine to call for more consistency in Aberdeen's defensive selection in a bid to cut out the sloppy defending that cost them the chance of a final appearance.

He said: "It is an embarrassment to have lost to a First Division team but we must keep our heads up. I never thought I could score two at Hampden and not consider this a day to remember.

"Hopefully someone will have taped it so I can watch my goals again but I think I'll fast forward the rest! Our defending wasn't pretty.

"We've had an inconsistent season and a lot of chopping and changing at the back hasn't helped. The changes have been down to circumstances.

"We've had a lot of injuries and a lot of players have been inconsistent including myself, but we should have got a better result."

Had the Dons reached the final they would almost certainly have made it back into Europe and Considine knows that may have convinced contract rebels like Barry Nicholson to commit their future to the club.

Considine said: "If we had won we would still have been on course for Europe and that might have helped persuade guys like Barry to stay.

"I honestly don't know if that will make it more likely that he leaves but I really hope it doesn't.

"I don't know what kind of stick the manager will come in for from the fans but we have to take it as well. We've taken a lot of stick this season due to our inconsistency but we're all trying to do our jobs.

"We've had a bad result and we should have won but it was one of those days. One positive is we made the top six but we need a good end to the season.

"The fans won't look at the type of game it was and forgive us. They are going to be angry.

"I can understand that but from our point of view we're depressed and upset but we've got to pick our heads up."

Considine's defensive colleague Alan Maybury (far right) insisted the SPL side only had themselves to blame after blowing their chance of reaching a Hampden final for the second time this season.

The Irishman couldn't believe it as his side pegged back Queens three times only to lose to a winning goal from former Pittodrie player John Stewart.

The dejected Irishman said: "That's twice we've reached a semi-final this season and not been able to take that extra step.

"But we only have ourselves to blame, we shot ourselves in the foot so many times and we need to learn to defend better."