Temple Of Saints -

Scottish Premier League - 18/08/2001

Killie 2 Saints 1 !!!!!!! League Table Here

Team: Main, Murray, Flash, Dasovic, Weir, Kemble, Tommy, JR, Wacko, Falconer, Kane
Subs Cuthbert, McCluskey, BigMac, Paddy, Pope

Fourth defeat on the trot but the fighting 2nd half performance and the delight of finally breaking the scoring duck show that there is some light at the end of the tunnel. The team isn't gelling yet and the midfield needs badly shaken up (Kane and Dasovic are slow enough together but when combined with Wacko..), but we deserved at least a point from this. St. Sandy rung the changes with the wingers back in and BigMac dropping to the bench whilst Kiegan missed out altogether. The big surprise was no place for Rachid in the squad which will hopefully be remedied soon.

The game got off to a scrappy start and despite winning plenty of ball in midfield there wasn't the pace to push forward and support Free Willie who was holding the front on his own. We had a couple of early chances with a Murray sent a cross over the bar and then in the 6th minute a long Main clearance was knocked down in front of JR with Marshall just reaching the ball before him.

With 12 minutes gone though the defence was caught napping. Trying to play the offside trap on the halfway line a Killie ball beat us and with Di Giacomo running through Main for some reason decided to stay on his line rather than come out to attempt the clearance only for the Killie player to take his time and slot the ball under the keeper to make it 1-0.

Even then we still had some pressure but little joy in the box. Murray had a long-range chip go just wide which was our best effort, whilst Kane saw his shot held comfortably. 25 minutes gone and we were 2 down. Again Killie beat the offside trap (although they looked offside). McLaren ran down the left wing. Weir got back to force him to shoot early and Main made a good save only for Pizzo to get to the rebound, put the ball in the net and leave the away fans looking at a total slaughter.

We began to get back into the game though and Wacko saw a shot blocked after some good build-up. JR, Tommy and Wacko were all feeding balls into the box but there was little support. Meanwhile the game was getting scrappy and Weir picked up the first booking for a foul on McLaren with the junkie making the most of it. Free Willie got the next one for an off-the-ball elbow in the box.

Second-half saw Paddy replace JR as Saints lined up with a 3-4-3 formation with Murray moving to right midfield. From the start we put the home defence under pressure. Benny almost pulled one back within a minute after a Murray free kick on the right was headed inches wide. The ref managed to get involved plenty as well. Hay went into the book for a bad challenge on Murray but he managed to piss of the Saints fans as well for picking up any slight challenge against a Killie defender.

Free Willie almost pulled one back on the hour mark after an excellent move. The ball was played across the park and Tommy nutmegged a Killie defender to play the ball to Flash who's cross found Free Wullie in the box. He turned and sent a cracking shot towards the goal only for Marshall to pull off a great save. Innes picked up the next booking for his umpteenth foul on Tommy on the left wing. Kane sent the free kick in but the shot was held. Then McLaren and Flash clashed and both were lucky the ref let them go unpunished as tempers rose.

The last 20 minutes were all Saints. Free Wullie had a header cleared off the line, the ball fell to Wacko on the edge of the box but his shot was held as we turned up the pressure. Weir picked up a bad injury and with 6 minutes left he eventually limped off the park. Chopper replaced him and at the same time Big Mac came on for Dasovic. Benny saw a shot saved on the 6yd line before with a minute left another flashpoint on the left wing saw us pull one back.

Mahood went in heavily on Tommy and this time "Rock On" reacted. End result was both players booked and a free kick to us. The ball eventually went into the box, Chopper headed up, Tommy flicked on and Free Willie from 12 yds out send a lob-cum-chip-cum-volley past Marshall and into the net. Cue massed sigh of relief from the away fans (actually more disbelief before the cheers started) and a few minutes injury time which saw us keep the pressure on in search of an equaliser. It didn't come but for a change the players were applauded off the park.

MoM for me was Wacko - ran his arse off and played some wonderful passes across the park. But the midfield needs more pace in it if we're going to play wingers. Kemble looked suspect a couple of times as did Weir but Flash was immense as well. Up front Free Wullie doesn't look the answer but took his goal well.

Right that's one barrier broken maybe now we can get some points racked up...

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