Temple Of Saints - No idea

Scottish Premier League - 15/12/2001

Livvy 2 Saints 1 League Table Here

Team: Miller, Murray, Flash, Dasovic, Dods, Weir, Lynch, JR, Paddy, Rachid, Kane
Subs Cuthbert, Fotheringham, Wacko, Russell, Falconer

First up let me say that the improvement in attitude and fight from a lot of the Saints players was good to see. But yet again we were let down by poor finishing, sloppy passing and a side which simply ran out of ideas and steam long before the end. It's hard to see where we go from here - sure the luck isn't with us but we're still throwing leads and points away. And if this report is a bit shorter than usual well maybe it's just because I'm starting to lose faith myself that we can turn it round and stay up. Christ I'm even struggling to slag off the opposition.

El Starko made several changes with Weir and Flash returning to the defence as we finally returned to a 4-4-2 formation. Kane took over in midfield alongside Dasovic with Lynch and Hartley on the wings whilst Rachid (yup he got a start!) and Paddy played up front. Even the Saints supporters were trying to boost the side with the Santa band behind the goal adding to the atmosphere (or lack of it).

The game started quickly enough although the slippery conditions meant that it was a bit of a lottery for the first few minutes. That's not to say we weren't under pressure though but the defence and midfield seemed to have found their tackling skills again (although not the "tackle so the diving git in the opposition doesn't still manage to wangle a free-kick from a nightmare of a biased referee" variety).

The first chance came when Saints broke out after defending a corner. Rachid on the left wing broke up the park and sent a long cross over which Kane met only for his shot to go wide. Cue for the usual thoughts about missed chances etc. Kano had another snap shot go over just after that and then the Belly had a good run on the right ended when he was obstructed. It became a bit scrappy after that with some niggling fouls going in, but at least we were evenly matched. Livvy had a good chance on the quarter hour when Flash was dispossessed at left back and only the intervention of Cap'n Jim saw the shot sent wide. We were playing the game far too tight at this time and struggled to piece any real attacks together as Livvy closed us down constantly.

Lynch picked up the first booking of the game for his 2nd rash challenge as McCurry managed to find fault in all our tackles with Xausa and Fernandez making the most of any slight contact. We were still making chances of our own and in 27 minutes Rachid had a great run through the middle. He rode 3 or 4 tackles before laying the ball off to Lynch making a good run on the right only for his shot to be sent well wide.

Three minutes later and his participation ended when a nasty challenge (missed by the ref but a Kane one seconds later ended in a booking) saw him flat out. After several minutes he limped off the park only for the game to be interrupted again as he received treatment on the touchline and was stretchered up the tunnel with what looked like a badly injured ankle / leg. Russell came on to replace him.

Rachid was next in the book for a bit of dissent after the ref turned down Saints claims for a blatant corner and the official's popularity with the away fans didn't get any better when a minute later he penalised us despite Xausa taking a blatant dive. Livvy kept the pressure up and a corner just before the break saw a looping lob into the box well saved by Miller at his right-hand post. Even then we managed to break up the park and win a corner but Paddy the Reliable did his usual and sent the header wide.

Saints started a bit livelier in the 2nd half and for a change we began to win some free kicks. With 48 minutes on the clock a foul on Rachid 30 yards out saw another set piece. Kane tapped it to the side and Hartley sent a beautiful curling shot round the wall and into the top corner of the net to make it 1-0 and send the Saints fans mental.

Livvy battled back but Saints managed to defend well initially. Then in the 52nd minute Hartley lost possession in midfield and Livvy broke up the park. Fernandez got the better of Dods and broke into the box and made it 1-1.

The game was much more open now and Miller was forced into a couple of great saves. Ten minutes later and we should have taken the lead. A great cross field ball from Flash found Paddy totally unmarked and running down on goal. Unfortunately lessons from the last few weeks haven't been learnt and by the time he stopped, checked and thought what to do next, Livvy had 2 defenders back and blocked the resulting shot easily. At the other end the defence was under plenty of pressure - Cap'n Jim did well to block a Bingham shot then we broke up the park and some good work on the right ended in Kane's cross cum shot into the box being deflected onto the post with the keeper doing well to keep the ball out of the net. Then Rachid managed a break down the left only for his chip to go just over before Flash had a run. His cross was knocked back by Paddy for Hartley who's shot went over the bar (spotting a pattern here yet?) We were playing decent enough football at this time but as usual the sucker punch was still to come.

Falconer replaced Paddy up front with 13 minutes to go as Livvy put Nathan the Greed on at the same time. Of course you just knew what was going to happen and sure enough 2 minutes later a harmless corner was floated in and the Greedy Ginger One headed the ball into the net to make it 2-1. I'd love to say that the lads kept their legendary spirit up but only Rachid seemed keen to restart the match.

Weir picked up a yellow a minute later for a block on a Livvy attack whilst Kane and Murray argued away in the background as Saints went to pieces. Sure we had a couple of attacks in the last 10 minutes but to be honest even with 4 strikers (Wacko came on for Kane) our best effort was a low Kane shot which was easily held whilst at the other end Miller was in excellent form with 2 or 3 great saves.

MoM for me was pretty hard to pick. I'll give it to Rachid purely for the fight he showed and the odd bit of skill although his discipline looks like being a bit of a problem. There wasn't really a bad player in defence either - just more a case of a team running out of ideas and playing too defensively against a Livvy side who showed just what a bit of confidence can do for you.

Maybe we should just give up now.....

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