Temple Of Saints - Better

Scottish Premier League - 12/11/2000

Sellik 4 Saints 1 League Table Here

Team: Main,Sylla,Blaster,Dods,Kernaghan,McCluskey,Dasovic,Kane, Connolly, Parker, Evers
Subs: Cuthbert,McCulloch,JR,Russell,Pope

First of all ignore the score - apart from a couple of suicidal pieces of defending Saints didn't put on too bad a performance. Especially when you consider that we had a midfield who were conspicuous by their absence and two full-backs who were more concerned with raising their hands to one another than defending. Personally I blame it all on the players being put to sleep pre-match by being forced to warm up in front of some quaint Irish folk music - dontcha just love the OF?

St. Sandy stuck by the eleven who contributed to the shambles of last week but dropped Tommy from the subs bench and brought in Craig Russell back from injury (yeah I know a Saints player recovering from injury is a rarity these days).

We went on the attack from the off and Dazza nearly scored in the opening minutes. A good ball out to Evers on the left and the cut back saw a weak shot saved by Rab the Scab. Meanwhile at the other end the defence were giving an indication of their lethargy by allowing a Sellik free header which went just wide.

Of course it didn't last and poor defending by Bollan and Dods on the left allowed Agathe to cut across the park. No challenge from Saints and his pass found Whinger Sutton who sent a chip past Main. Saints tried to get back into the game but with Kiegan being held / hacked / throttled at every opportunity by Vanwhoren and his fellow thugs there was little chance for us. Paddy's first touch was letting him down and there was an almost total lack of support from the midfield. Meanwhile in defence both Kernaghan and Bollan were almost suicidal the way they were trying to clear their lines.

We almost went 2 down after 25 minutes when Dasovic and McCluskey combined to foul a Sellik player on the edge of the box. Larsson did his Amoruso impression though and the ball sailed over the bar. Saints fought back and some persistency from Kiegan forced a corner. A quick cut back and MoMo let fly only to see Rab save the ball. Then after some good play on the edge of the box (amazing what we can do when we have players going forward) Kane let fly with a long-range effort which went just wide.

As usual though there was the kick in the teeth to come. An Evers break through the middle saw Sutton chase and blatantly pull his shirt. No foul from the ref despite there being no advantage. Sellik win the ball and a through ball found Henprik who got the better of Dods and sent a low drive past a stationary Main to make it 2-0. No doubt in my mind that Jesus could have got it as well.

2 minutes later and it was game over. Bollan gave away a corner and whilst the Saints defence were arguing amongst themselves, Larsson and Moravprick played a quick 1-2 and Moravprick sent a cross-cum shot curving into the net. Main tried to get a hand to it but he obviously saw it late as the entire Saints team was caught sleeping. Still immediately afterwards we had the wonderful professionalism of Sylla and Bollan having a punch-up in the box as their arguments became physical. Luckily Kernaghan managed to intervene before the ref had to but I hope the club takes action against them both.

Second-half started reasonably well for Saints although the home side obviously were settling for the scoreline. Having said that they still managed to break up the park and Main was forced into an excellent reaction save from a Sellik header. Pope came on for Evers five minutes later just in time to see Petta try to repeat his antics of a few weeks ago with another dive in the box (one of many today). Luckily the ref waved play on but can they please start to book players for this at some point.

Just past the hour mark we went 4 down. Some short passing in midfield because of a lack of creativity from players trying to make some room, ended up with Dasovic giving the ball away to Thompson. A chip forward and Larsson was 1 on 1 with Main. Another chip and we're 4-0 down.

Saints tried to put some effort into the game. A good run by Kiegan saw his shot just deflected but there wasn't much joy to be had. Russell and McCulloch came on for the ineffective Paddy and Kernaghan (who'd taken a knock). The last 10-15 minutes saw Saints get plenty of possession and chances. Russell saw his header go just wide in the 80th minute but 5 minutes later we got some reward. A MoMo break up the right saw him get the better of VanWhoren, get to the byeline and cut the ball back for Russell to tap home. At least then we had a chance to sing and in what was a pretty enjoyable away atmosphere we managed to shut up the home support who by now were deserting in droves (the Buckfast off-licences stop selling at 5 obviously).

Little else happened though apart from Kiegan picking up a yellow card for a foul on Petta. Possibly deserved but given the retaliation the Sellik player showed the ref should at least have shown a yellow to him as well. And they wonder why we get angry at these decisions.

MoM for me was Kiegan - he ran his backside off and with more support from the midfield and Paddy we might have reaped more of a benefit. Mentions too for McCluskey, Dods and MoMo (at least when he wasn't fighting with Bollan).

A rotten scoreline but a better performance.

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