Well 0 Saints 1 League Table Here
Team:
Main,McClune,Forsyth,Weir,McCluskey,Marco,Tommy,Kane, Kiegan,JR,MoMo
Subs: Cuthbert,Dods,Kernaghan,Nathan,Crozier
Well that's one hoodoo out of the way. Only 3195 mugs turned up at Fir Park but at least there was some entertainment on offer and Saints more than deserved the three points with a good all-round performance. Memo to Geoff Brown though - next time Well come to Perth let's shove them in a crap stand and put big pillars up to obstruct their view whilst still charging the full price.
Dasovic was suspended so Marco and Kane took over the central midfield roles. In defence McCluskey got the nod ahead of Kernaghan whilst Kiegan started up front in place of Nathan.
The first five minutes saw Saints press forward although the wonderful Fir Park pitch did not make for sexy football. Still we looked sharp with JR and MoMo linking well. And in the 8th minute we probably should have taken the lead when a through ball from midfield came to JR who was unmarked and onside only for the winger to see his shot go across the goal.
The game faded badly after that with both sides making some poor mistakes although at least from Saints' point of view there was a bit more fight amongst the players. We still managed to try for the suicidal acts though including some poor passbacks and Main being forced to make a save from the edge of the area after Well broke up the park. Even worse in 25 minutes Flash was well short with a passback. With 3 Saints defenders looking on Chiba sneaked in and broke into the box only for Main to pull off a great save. At the other end a long clearance saw JR make a great run and send a neat chip into the box. Kiegan latched on to it but his shot went narrowly wide.
This was when Well decided to resort to the hacking game and Kiegan, Mo and JR all came in for some rough treatment with Scott Leitch the chief offender (along with Cap'n Caveman) - not that the ref took any action. We were pressing forward and towards the end of the half had several chances to take the lead. A Tommy free kick from just outside the box saw a low ball sent into the goalmouth but no Saints player there to pick it up. Then Kiegan went on a lovely run through the Well defence but his shot was saved by Woods. The best chance though came after MoMo, Tommy and Kiegan combined in a great move on the left to dribble the ball into the box. Kiegan got on the end of the ball and sent a cutback across the area to Kane who was unmarked 18yds out but still managed to totally sclaff the ball.
Kane was replaced by Forrest Gump at the break and he went to right-back whilst Troy moved to the midfield. Saints started the game on the offensive and a McClune through ball after some good work in midfield, beat the Buckfast-Quenchers defence and reached Kiegan. He managed to do a Kano though and sclaff the ball wide.
MoMo made a couple of runs but a touch of selfishness saw nothing come of them. Then in 65 minutes a through ball from midfield found Tommy on the left wing. He sent a square ball through the backtracking Well defence to MoMo coming in from the right. A couple of touches later and Le Mo sent a low drive past Woods right side and into the net. Cue shouts of "Rock on Tommy" from some of the Saints die-hards.
Well's tactics got worse after that and with Adams being brought onto the park it was obvious that the game was going to get dirty. A Twaddle ball found Weir running through to pass back to Main. But Elliot behind him dropped to the ground clutching his face although strangely enough none of his team-mates wanted to put the ball out of play to allow him to get treatment and he was up and walking about within seconds. Still it meant Cap'n Jim was a target for the home fans for the rest of the game.
The P45ers tried to get back into the game and Twaddle's shot in 74 minutes was just wide although Jesus has to take some responsibility for being fast asleep. Saints livened things up with the Ginger Bomber coming on for JR and the last 10 minutes saw us press forward with some good passing and keepie-uppie on show to entertain the fans.
The last nervous moment came on full-time. Cap'n Jim picked up a soft booking and from the free kick on the edge of the box and a shy, Leitch sent a good 20-yd shot wide. Still we could have increased our lead in injury time when MoMo brilliantly controlled the ball in the centre circle and sent a long pass out to Tommy on the left. He got into the box but his shot was over the bar.
MoM for me was Sylla - a totally different performance to a fortnight ago and a neat goal. Kiegan, McClune, Weir and Tommy all played well with Tommy looking a totally different player with Flash behind him instead of Bollan.
At least we're seeing some entertainment at last.
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| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | Points |
| Celtic | 33 | 28 | 4 | 1 | 81 | 24 | 88 |
| Rangers | 34 | 23 | 4 | 7 | 63 | 31 | 73 |
| Hibs | 34 | 17 | 11 | 6 | 53 | 27 | 62 |
| Kilmarnock | 34 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 40 | 45 | 50 |
| Hearts | 33 | 13 | 8 | 12 | 52 | 44 | 47 |
| Dundee | 34 | 11 | 8 | 15 | 47 | 44 | 41 |
| Dunfermline | 34 | 11 | 8 | 15 | 32 | 49 | 41 |
| Aberdeen | 34 | 9 | 12 | 13 | 38 | 48 | 39 |
| Motherwell | 34 | 11 | 6 | 17 | 37 | 49 | 39 |
| Saints | 34 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 36 | 48 | 38 |
| Dundee United | 33 | 5 | 8 | 20 | 30 | 58 | 23 |
| St. Mirren | 33 | 5 | 4 | 24 | 21 | 64 | 19 |
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