Stranraer 1 Saints 0
Team :: Main,McQuillan,Preston,Attila,Weir,Griffin,Tosh,O'Neil,Grant,
Ferguson,Jenko
Subs :: Whiteford,Farquhar,Fyhr
Well yet again we manage to fuck up and bottle it at the last hurdle. Its
not as tho we can use the conditions as an excuse or the injury list since
the same 14 players gubbed St Mirren last week and we've won matches in
worse weather.
Theres not too much to say about the game really. The gale-force winds
and horizontal rain combined with the swirls created in Broadwood now the
third stand is up were never going to make for a classic game of football.
Saints tried to play some decent fitba at times but more often than not
the midfield (esp Attila) just opted for a long cross-field pass which
went soaring over the heads of any target players. And when kicking
against the wind in the first half even Mains goal-kicks were hardly
making it to the half-way line.
The goal was the usual fluke affair that Saints excel at - a long free
kick was wind-assisted into the box and Main was only able to parry it. Up
comes Danny Griffin to clear it and either he sliced the clearance or else
the wind caught it - either way it ended up in the net. After that until
half-time the fight went out of Saints.
Second half was all Saints - in fact St***r**r only had 2 shots at goal
the whole game. Saints pressed a lot and played some good passes in
midfield with McQ and O'Neil combining well. Unfortunately the attacks
either broke down due to taking too long in the box or because once in the
box Saints dwelled on the ball for too long. Combined with the second-half
tactical change of time-wasting all the time and hacking at ONeil etc it
led to a frustrating 45 mins for the Saintees.
There were some moments of hope - Roddy had a couple of good efforts and
Farquhar (on as sub) a shot at the end. But even when we forced 4 corners
in a row in the last 5 minutes you just knew there wasnt going to be a
goal.
As usual for us Kenny Clark gave his totally unbiased opinions to most of
the decisions - ie 2 penalties turned down and the Stranraer no. 2 allowed
to stay on the park when the score was 0-0 after hacking Tosh when he was
last man. Oh for a consistent ref.
Fergie was replaced by Farquhar and Attila (who struggled a lot in the
conditions) by Fyhr (who was just as shit really). Fergie doesnt look 100%
and you have to ask why he got the nod over one of the youngsters (ie
Charlie King). IMHO tho Farquhar looked pretty good when he came on and I
still say he should get a new contract.
Crowd was 5,500 - with 4000 of that lot Saintees. It was interesting to
hear the team getting booed off at the end - no matter what they did you
could see that they were pissed off enough. The last thing they need just
now is the fair-weather support turning on them.
So the McD Beaujolais (1989) goes back in the cupboard again - one day
we'll win a cup just so I can drink the fucking stuff.