St Midden 3 Saints 2
Team: Main, Murray, Flash, Rachid, Weir, McCluskey,
Tommy, MoMo, Kiegan, Wacko, Kane
Subs Cuthbert, JR, Marco, Paddy, Conway, Panther,
Fotheringham
Well the starting line-up was probably pretty close to what we could expect to see at Parkhead in a week's time. At least it was until the second-half when the game exploded. I mean it wasn't even really a friendly from the start as the junkies fooled us all by showing that they do have a collective memory larger than a goldfish. Yup they blame us for their relegation last season and in particular Main.
Even before the game kicked off the witty Panda mascot pulled out a "Spot the Arab" banner and wiped it's arse on an Arab head-dress. Nothing like inciting the mob of smack-deprived home fans into a torrent of abuse which was kept up for the whole game and obviously filtered onto the park where in the end both sides ended up with only 9 apiece - Cap'n Jim and McCluskey the guilty parties for our side although MoMo and Kane managed to pick up yellow cards as well.
What of the game? Well Tommy and MoMo passed fitness tests, although Le Mo had his right leg strapped for most of the time. It started fairly quietly with Saints in a 4-4-2 formation with Rachid and Tommy wingers and Wacko and Kane in the middle supporting Kiegan and Le Mo up front. Main had a couple of crosses to deal with early on but Saints struggled to find their feet. Then with 9 minutes gone Quitongo broke from the right and cut across the face of the box. Weir and Murray failed to close him down and he sent in a cracking 18-yd shot past Main.
Even then Saints weren't pushing forward enough with the midfield sitting too deep and the wingers hanging back. MoMo struggled to make any room for himself and Baltacha marked Parker out of the game. Still we should have drawn equal in the 18th minute. Deirdre had a great run and slipped the ball to MoMo but the big man left it too late to shoot.
Then in the 25th minute an even better chance came along when Deirdre cut into the box from the right. But instead of shooting past Roy, he cut the ball back to Le Mo who was far too casual with his tap in and ended up watching the ball trickle goalwards only to come back off the post. Rachid was having a field time with his runs up the right but even a series of corners (all taken by Kane for some reason) failed to even produce a clear cut chance. So 5 minutes later the junkies break up the park on the right, a cross into the box and McGarrie puts an 8-yard volley past Main to make it 2-0.
Saints woke up a bit more now and 5 minutes before the break should have pulled one back. Kiegan won one of the few free-kicks we got all day. Tommy took it and squared the ball to Wacko who sent a neat chip into the box for Kane to run onto only for his shot to rebound off the bloody post again. We were pressing by now but some weak finishing meant no goals.
Second-half saw the junkies replace half their team (probably methadone time or something) but surprisingly no changes for Saints. Main was at the home end now and taking lots of stick. Strangely his bow to the home fans to accept these plaudits only seemed to enrage them more. We had a couple of set pieces early on (and with Lardboy away its at least encouraging to see the team try something different). Tommy saw a long range effort go wide.
10 minutes into the half and the game livened up. Kiegan had a great run from the halfway line on the right side of the park. He cut in and slipped the ball to MoMo on the edge of the box. He turned 3 junkies and sent a neat low shot past the keeper to make it 2-1. Of course with this being Saints such hope for the fans can't last and within a minute it was 3-1 thanks to a soft penalty when referee Martindale reckoned Weir was holding a junkie. Turner sent Main the wrong way and from the reactions of the home fans you'd have thought ram-raiding had just been decriminalised.
The grudges on the park were starting to show through as well. Kane picked up a yellow for a late challenge. Then on the hour mark a passback to the St Mirren keeper saw the poor sod let the ball go through his legs and as he scrambled to clear it MoMo was just a fraction too late to put it into the net. St Sandy now put on JR for Kiegan - and you can guess the reaction of the junkies to that one. Rachid was the next to be fouled but he gave a lovely clue as to the length of the fuse on his Gallic temperament with an abrupt piece of retaliation - no contact but he was barely controlling himself. Still from the free kick Kane and MoMo combined with a 1-2 which ended up with Kanes chip being tipped over the bar. Tommy had a shot and then MoMo hit a 25-yarder just over before Main was called into action to make a good reaction save from a St Midden break.
A minute later and MoMo went into the book for retaliation although given some of the fouls going in it's maybe time the refs looked at preventing any chance of retaliation taking place. It only served to fire Saints up and in the 72nd minute MoMo had a great run, before he cut across the goal and squared the ball to Tommy for the Dane to hit a cracking 20-yd low drive to make it 3-2. Paddy came on for MoMo now but with a minute we were facing an uphill struggle.
A long ball into the Saints half saw Weir and a junkie rise for it with Weir being leaned into. Unfortunately the Saints skipper reacted with a kick (which missed). The ref had waved advantage but when play stopped it was a straight red card. And to say the least St Sandy was fuming at him as he left the park. The fouls were going in all over the place now and even when we won a free kick (on the edge of the box with 7 minutes to go) JR and Rachid were having a real barney as to who was going to take it. JR did but his rocket of a shot was blocked by a defender.
The last 5 minutes saw Martindale earn his red card bonus for the week. First up a horrendous tackle on Flash saw the St Midden no 12 see red. Then in the last minute a McCluskey two-footed sliding tackle saw him walk ( it looked soft) And in the resultant mini-brawl McKnight walked for the junkies although Tommy, Rachid and Wacko all got involved.
So an action-packed non-friendly. Discipline was very poor although the ref didn't help matters. Weir and McCluskey were both stupid with the former deserving a massive fine. MoMo and Rachid had better watch themselves this season as well.
On the plus side we probably deserved at least a draw but poor finishing again let us down. MoM for me was close but Rachid just edges Kane. He's not a fancy player but works his arse off and covers a lot of the park. Along with Kano today the midfield looked solid. Murray and Flash in defence were good as well and Jackson, although tiring towards the end of the game looks like a decent enough signing. Up front though Kiegan needs to get amongst the goals soon. MoMo and Tommy didn't look 100% fit although Tommy had a decent enough game once he got a few runs in. Paddy I'm afraid struggled badly and it's hard to see him even getting a subs spot this season.
Remember it was only a friendly - the really nasty stuff starts next week!!
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