Temple Of Saints - Return of King Goals

Scottish Premier League - 03/02/2001

Arabs 1 Saints 1 League Table Here

Subs: Cuthbert,Nathan,McCulloch,O'Neill,McCluskey

The all too familiar pattern of recent games with Saints more than dominating the play but having to settle for a share of the points is getting boring. Yet again we managed to shoot ourselves in the feet by giving away a needless goal and although some of the play in the 2nd half was almost sexy (well as sexy as it could be in a sleet-ridden Tannadump on a day like this) we need to kill teams off a lot sooner.

St. Sandy surprised nobody with his team selection with the planned 4-4-2 side of the postponed Sellik match finally seeing the light of day. It as obvious from the start that with the rain (soon to become snow) pelting down on a heavy pitch (although they probably needed the extra support on the surface for Tubby Millers weight) that flowing football was not going to be the order of the day. Still given the conditions it was rather entertaining to see the skinhead look of the home side shivering before kick-off - obviously the nit inspectors done the rounds this week.

A fairly good travelling support saw a good start to the game with Saints forcing a corner in the first minute. A couple of minutes later Bollan saw a long-range effort go well over the bar whilst at the other end Tubby broke but shot wide of Main with the Saints defence posted missing. Then Kiegan broke down the left and got to the byeline - he cut back inside and after his shot was saved, the resulting corner saw Bollan take a pass back and from 20yds out send a lovely dipping shot goalwards which Gallacher (the one that doesn't assault officials) just managed to tip over.

The ref decided we were in too much control now and started to dish out the free kicks to the Arabs - usually courtesy of Tubby Miller tripping over his own ego. They got one in the 8th minute with Griffin (yup he does still apparently play football) sending a curving shot round the wall which Main did well to tip wide.

The play was going end-to-end at this time with both sides struggling in the conditions - Saints especially seemed to love playing short pass backs to Main which got stuck in the mud / slush - luckily Tubby Miller was still finishing his 15th kebab of the half otherwise he might have reached the ball a couple of times. With Miller the only real danger for Saints the creative stuff as usual came on the right side of the park (Pope was out of it on the left wing). Kiegan got a shot on target in the 23rd minute and MoMo got to the rebound only to see his shot go across the goal with no other Saints player in attendance to follow up. A couple of minutes later Kiegan was scythed down on the right wing. Kane played a short free kick and Bollan sent a low drive just wide. We even managed the ball in the net on the half-hour mark with a cheeky Pope backheel but it was ruled off for offside.

Five minutes before the break though the suicide attempts began. Lilley broke down the left but was causing no real danger and being tracked back by Weir. The Arab cut into the box and despite the likelihood of a goal being less than that of Tubby Miller quaffing Slimfast instead of Buckfast, Weir caught the player - a soft one but a definite penalty and to pile on the humiliation it was Fatboy that scored from the (now heavily dented) spot. 1-0 them and the reaction of the Saints players to their captain said it all.

Second-half started with the sleet turning to snow and some of us hoping for a call-off. If anything we started worse with too many slack passes, slow players and a general lethargy about the team.

The game came to life though when Easton carried out his 23rd assassination attempt on MoMo. This time the Saints player stupidly reacted and with Tubby Miller doing a Giant Haystacks impersonation and weighing in with the beergut of doom a bit of a free-for all developed with Dasovic showing common sense and leading Le Mo away from the fun. It woke the fans up though and ended in a booking for Le Mo and Tubby with Easton somehow managing to get clean away.

Of course now the ref had found his cards there was no stopping him and Kane was booked on 58 minutes for a soft foul which the Arab made the most of - you could almost hear the declaration of war between the sides.

With Saints fired up St. Sandy finally pulled the master stroke and replaced the tiring Paddy with Nat King Goals. A minute later and MoMo on the right plays the ball via Kane to Pope on the left of midfield. McBride (who seemed to suddenly remember he was a skilful player) send a ball forward for the Ginger One to run on to - cut into the box and a 20yd chip sailed over the Arab keepers head. Sheer fucking poetry.

Saints took control now and a series of corners saw Dods and Le Mo miss after Bollan sent a neat chip into the box. Then Le Mo sent a cheeky long chip after Gallacher was caught off his line the keeper backpedalled to tip the ball away but fell and dropped it again with the ball just failing to go over the line. Of course it wasn't all flowing football and Nathan picked up the next yellow for a soft foul whilst Lauchlan (the crap brother) managed to escape after pulling Kiegan down on the edge of the box. The Arabs had the odd chance with Lilley sending a shot just over but they were mainly limited to breaks up the park as Saints kept the pressure up.

Then we had our best chance. Pope fed the ball into the box for Le Mo who found himself surrounded by Arabs. Trying to play for a shot he was pulled to the ground. Ref points to the spot, Mo stands to take the applause of the Saints fans and the Arabs join the Well supporters in calling for his head. Up steps Kiegan to take the kick and the Gods decide to have another laugh at us as Gallacher saves the ball.

O'Neill came on for Parker just after that and the teenagers frustration was rather obvious when he went off. On the park Saints kept on winning the corners and the Arabs kept on clearing them although I don't think Gallacher caught a cross all afternoon. It wasn't to be though and despite the pressure the score stayed 1-1.

Overall a good game given the conditions and one which we should have won easily. Nathan looks back at his best. MoM for me though was McBride who after an average first half was at the heart of a lot of the Saints attacks in the 2nd and in supporting Parker and Nathan showed that Saints can play a good short passing game when needed.

So we ended up with a draw - at least the Arabs are bottom again!!

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