Temple Of Saints - Easy in the End

Bells League Division One 28/12/2002

Saints 3 Alloa 0 League Table Here

Team : Main, Robbo, Forsyth, Marco, Murray, Maxwell, Hay, Reilly, JR, Parker, Tommy
Subs : Cuthbert, McCann, Paddy, Baxter, Dods

Well if nothing else, for a change the scoreline almost reflects the game with Saints dominating from start to finish. Sure we had plenty of chances that were missed, saved or generally screwed up by the players but in the end the team left the park at the final whistle to applause (as opposed to the boos that greeted the half-time break). Panther was the casualty from the QoS game and he dropped out the squad with Parker taking over up front and Baxter on the bench whilst Marco was promoted to a starting jersey in place of Dods. It meant a 3-4-3 line-up with Flash, Murray and Maxwell at the back and Tommy, Hay and Parker up front.

From the start it was obvious that Alloa were going to defend in depth and to their credit Saints piled on the pressure early on. Parker had a first minute shot deflected and then a minute later Hartley on the right broke through and saw his shot well saved with Hay too slow to get to the rebound. Alloa managed to clear the ball but Hartley knocked it in and Hay saw his header go just over. Tommy was next to see his header miss the target from a Keigan cross and then in the 5th minute Parker broke and passed to Hay whose shot was just wide of the goal. The same player saw a shot deflected a minute later for a corner.

By this time Saints were well in control with some neat passing from midfield supplying the strikers. JR had a shot go well over in the 10th minute before the worst miss a minute later. Marco (looking excellent in a central midfield role) set up Tommy who got to the bye line on the left before putting a low cross into the 6yd box. The defender got it but failed to clear and somehow Parker at the far post put the ball wide from all of one yard out. Annoying for some but for others in the East Stand it seemed the trigger for the booing to start on the player. Saints continued on the attack with a Hartley free kick going wide a minute later following a shirt pull. At the other end Alloa managed to force a corner when Main failed to catch a free kick crossed into the box. The Wasps had a couple of other attacks but Saints were playing the offside trap to good effect.

Parker had our next effort in 20 minutes but a great solo run from the middle of the park saw him try to place the shot and end up with a weak effort being saved. He had another effort deflected wide from a Hay cross four minutes later. A minute after that Tommy sent a good through ball to Hay but he was too slow to beat the keeper. Then a break down the left from Tommy and Hay saw the ball fed to Forsyth. He played a short ball to Tommy whose cross was met by Hay but headed just wide of the back post. Alloa's best chance came just after that when they played a quick free kick and beat the offside trap to run through on goal. Only a great Ian Maxwell tackle in the box blocked the shot and probable goal. Hartley and Parker combined for the latter to shoot just wide and then Marco and Flash combined on the left to cross into the 6 yard box. Parker laid the ball off to Reilly who hit a great shot that was blocked.

All that and only half an hour gone. Unfortunately after that we seemed to run out of ideas a bit and the midfield began to fade out of the game. Alloa were trying to attack and whilst we were able to mop up their attacks with ease, Saints were unable to turn the possession into attack.

Still there were chances. Five minutes before the break saw Hartley feed the ball to Tommy who missed his shot. Then from a JR corner Flash had a good header blocked and finally in the half a Hartley free kick went over the wall but was well saved by the opposition keeper. Of course it wasn't enough for some home fans and the players were booed off the park at half-time.

Second half started in the same way and within a minute Flash had a shot well saved. Alloa managed to look a bit livelier though and forced a couple of corners. But there was plenty of time for us to come up with some more dreadful misses. A Tommy cross in the 48th minute saw JR header the ball on for Hay but he mishit his header and put the ball over the bar when it seemed easier to score. Robbo was next up (yup he was playing today) latching onto a JR pass and seeing a narrow-angled shot stopped at the post. There followed a fair bit of pressure from Saints without managing to create any real chances. The Alloa players by now were dropping like flies and the hints of timewasting were creeping in along with the frustration in the McD stands. But there was some action. Flash had a shot over the bar and Maxwell put a header over the bar from a JR free kick. JR had a decent effort go across the goal and Murray put a header well wide.

With 70 minutes gone, Hay was replaced by Paddy (to boos as Hay went off and applause for Paddy). Within a minute Paddy set up Tommy. Alloa managed to clear the ball but only to JR who had a decent shot saved. Flash had a good shot deflected just wide and JR a free-kick over the bar. Paddy had a good run into the box in 74 minute and his cutback to Tommy saw the Dane's shot tipped wide. But a minute later we finally broke the deadlock. Some good build up play saw the ball played from right to left and to Tommy. His low cross from the byeline was missed by the keeper, Paddy and Keigan but luckily Andy Seaton managed to put the ball into his own net to make it 1-0. Cue for major sighs or relief round the ground.

Alloa had a free kick just after that and a free header went just wide with Main worryingly stationary. But Saints were trying to capitalise on their new boost of confidence. Tommy had a low drive put out for a corner and Parker saw a good turn and shot forced out for a corner in 81 minutes. From the kick, Maxwell and Murray both had headers blocked but the ball came out to Flash who from 10 yards out sent a rocket into the net to make it 2-0.

After that we dominated. A minute later Hartley saw a cracking 25 yarder of a shot brilliantly tipped over the bar. From the corner Murray put a header over as well. Then Marco had a good run up the left put out for a corner. From it JR played the short ball to an unmarked Tommy who sent a beauty of a low 20-yd drive into the bottom corner to make it 3-0. Baxter and McCann replaced Robbo and Reilly for the last few minutes but there was little real action. Main tipped an Alloa shot over and then from that Saints broke up the park. Tommy played Parker through but his shot was well saved. And for a change the boys were applauded off the park!!!!

MoM for me was close. Marco and Tommy both played well but JR just sneaks it for actually helping to support the attacks and playing more up front. To be honest though there wasn't really a weak point in the team against a poor Alloa side.

Nice way to round off the year though...

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