Sheep 3 Saints 3 League Table Here
Team:
Main,Frail,Forsyth,Weir,McCluskey,Dasovic,Tommy,Pope, Kiegan,JR,Kane
Subs: Cuthbert,Kernaghan,Nathan,McCulloch,McClune
Right first up I'm claiming this as a moral 3-2 win based on the shite referee / linesman conspiracy that led to the Sheep's 2nd goal. And despite the lack of 3 point heading back to McD the performance was improved on late. There is some sign that the fight is back in the team and given the conditions at Pittodrie both teams should be given credit for putting on a fairly entertaining game.
Saints settled for a 4-3-3 formation with Tommy and JR on the wings supporting 4ft 10" Kiegan in the middle (you might spot a flaw in the tactics in the previous sentence allowing for the conditions on the night). Dasovic, Kane and the Pope made up the midfield. Nathan made the bench....something which would play an important part later.
The first few minutes were shaky from Saints point of view with a Sheep header going over the bar within the first minute with the Saints defence static. Chris Clark on the Sheep left wing tore Frail apart several times in the half although to be fair to Frail he didn't look too fit for most of the game.
We began to get back into it though with JR on great form and a nice move after 5 minutes saw Kiegan play the ball to JR on the wing. His cross went wide but Tommy did showed some good control before slipping the ball between some Sheep defenders to Kiegan. He got to the byeline but his cutback was sent just wide by JR. A minute later Kiegan was unlucky not to score when he was sent through on the keeper only for Esson to make a good save.
The midfield was still a problem with both Kane and Dasovic caught in possession with the former's ending up with Aberdeen getting a corner. That and a general lethargy about the midfield meant that more often than not we were sending high balls forward for Kiegan to get. We were making chances though and with just over quarter of an hour gone Pope sent JR free on the right. The winger got to the edge of the box only to see his long-range effort tipped wide by Esson. That gave us 3 corners in a row but a combination of the playing conditions and the usual Saints tactics at corners meant we got nothing out of it.
Frail was lucky not to be the first in the book for a late challenge on Clark as the Sheep player tore past him for the umpteenth time.
But we were soon smiling. 26 minutes gone and Kiegan sent the ball to JR on the right. He seemed to have all the time in the world to go forward before sending a cross into the box which Pope beautifully headed into the top corner. One of those slow-motion goals that are so simple.
Saints were looking faster and livelier now and a couple of close goalmouth scrambles saw Sheep blocks prevent us from increasing our lead. Of course we all know what that means don't we? Half an hour on the clock and the Sheep break down the left again. A total failure to clear the ball by Saints sees it end up with Darren Young on the edge of the box - he sent a low shot through a group of players in the box only for a nasty deflection from an outstretched McCluskey to put the ball into the net.
Worst was to come. After a long-range JR shot went just over a Sheep attack ended up with Pope being caught in possession on the edge of the Saints box (although to be fair he wasn't being given that many options to pass to). A through ball sees Winters a mile offside. The Sheep winger puts his head in his hands awaiting the inevitable whistle. It doesn't come, the linesman's flag stays down, Winters slots the ball past Main to make it 2-1 and all hell breaks loose in the Saints support and on the park. Easily the worst referee decision to go against us all season.
We had some chances before half-time. Another JR run down the right saw a good cross in for Tommy in the box only for a Sheep defender to push him off the ball. Then after Young and McGuire had picked up the first bookings of the night a Kiegan break ended up in him being rugby-tackled. No red card and Esson pulled off a good save from JR's free kick.
Second-half started fairly quietly. Dasovic gave the ball away and Stavros forced Main into a good save from his free kick. The hour mark saw St. Sandy delve into the Big Bizarre Book Of Tactics with the replacement of Tommy by Father Dougal. Fair enough but Cartman takes up a striking slot alongside Kiegan!! And it had some effect. Kiegan began to do a lot more running off the ball now and a couple of minutes later forced Esson into a good save from a goalbound cross after Kane and Frail combined to set him up. Kernaghan was doing a holding and ball-winning role whilst JR, Pope and Kiegan were able to do the running.
With 20 minutes to go we made it 2-2 with a well-worked goal. The ball was fed to Kernaghan. Then Dasovic passed it to Kiegan who did a neat run into the box before sending a low cross over which Pope turned and blasted into the net with Esson nowhere. Unfortunately we didn't get much time to celebrate. 90 seconds later and it's 3-2 with McCluskey and Flash getting into a tangle and Derek Young stepping in to score.
Flash picked up the next yellow before St. Sandy put on Nathan and Marco for Dasovic and JR with 15 minutes left.
Saints were pressing now and when Kiegan's run up the right was abruptly ended on the edge of the box (makes a change to see him get a foul these days), Kane's free kick was just over. Then Pope sent a neat ball through for Kiegan which earned us a corner. The Sheep almost scored when a long-range effort was well saved by Main who sent Flash on a run up the left wing only for Esson to pull off a good save from his 20-yd shot. With time running out (i.e. the last minute), a long ball into the Sheep box ended up in a stramash on the edge of the 6-yard box. But Cartman managed to tap the ball free and with the keeper nowhere up came Nathan to slide the ball into the net to make it 3-3.
It was a good performance given the conditions with Forsyth again looking up to the first team role. Midfield is still slow at times but my Pope put in a good performance. Kiegan has to learn he can't run the forward line on his own as well. MoM for me though was JR who put in a ton of running on the right wing and looked back to the form he showed at the start of the season.
At least there's some entertainment back on the park..
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| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | Points |
| Celtic | 30 | 25 | 4 | 1 | 77 | 23 | 79 |
| Rangers | 30 | 21 | 3 | 6 | 58 | 28 | 66 |
| Hibs | 30 | 17 | 9 | 4 | 52 | 22 | 60 |
| Kilmarnock | 30 | 13 | 6 | 11 | 34 | 39 | 45 |
| Hearts | 31 | 12 | 7 | 12 | 48 | 43 | 43 |
| Dunfermline | 31 | 11 | 7 | 13 | 30 | 45 | 40 |
| Dundee | 30 | 10 | 7 | 13 | 42 | 37 | 37 |
| Motherwell | 31 | 10 | 6 | 15 | 36 | 45 | 36 |
| Aberdeen | 30 | 7 | 12 | 11 | 33 | 44 | 33 |
| Saints | 31 | 7 | 11 | 13 | 33 | 47 | 32 |
| Dundee United | 30 | 4 | 7 | 19 | 26 | 53 | 19 |
| St. Mirren | 31 | 5 | 3 | 23 | 20 | 62 | 18 |
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