Annan chief Peter Murphy savoured a 3-2 win over Queen of the South in the Premier Sports League Cup group opener but warned his side now to be wary of St Johnstone tonight.
He reckons the energy-sapping triumph on a scorching afternoon at Palmerston could leave them slightly drained for this evening’s away match.
Murphy said: “It was a good win and we had to withstand a lot of pressure.
“Maybe my boys thought it was going to be easy when we went in front but it was a tough game in testing conditions. It was very hot out there.
“And you could see near the end that Queens were the full time team with a lot of energy and I was trying to tell our boys to save some for the St Johnstone game.
“But it was a very good performance all round and we could have maybe scored another goal in the first half when Dominic Docherty hit a post and Steven Swinglehurst had a chance with a header from a corner.
“So there were a few good
first-half chances and I don’t think Queens knew we were going to play that way.
“But they got a reaction with the early second-half goal to make it 2-2 and we found it very disappointing the way they scored their goal (through Ruari Paton).
“Then we got the late winner and it is always nice to score in the last couple of minutes because it always makes it difficult for them to come back.
“Annan have always been the underdogs in these games so I am delighted with this win. It was a good shift but the boys will find it difficult on Tuesday up at St Johnstone.”
Murphy praised new signings Benjy Luissint and kid keeper Ethan Mitchell from Celtic.
He said: “Benjy looked very good in midfield and he has been taken into the squad very quickly by the boys. He is hungry and we have some work to do on him.
“He can only get better although he can find it difficult with a language gap especially when he hears from a fast talking Irishman like myself. The rest of the boys find it difficult as well.”
Luissint, 23, is from Guadalupe and had a brief spell at Queens.
He added of Mitchell: “It was a bit of a surprise for him to play at this pace because at Celtic it was all 100mph. But he did well.”
