Temple Of Saints - Idiots

Bells League Division One 16/11/2002

Saints 0 Ayr 2 League Table Here

Team : Main, McClune, Murray, McCann, McCluskey, Maxwell, Hay, Reilly, Hartley, Ferry, Parker
Subs : Cuthbert, Weir, Stevenson, Forsyth, Tommy

Where do we go from here? If you're looking for someone to blame today for the result above there are plenty of candidates. Stark is the main suspect and he received plenty of abuse from sections of the home stand towards the end of the game. And the referee, who managed to top Frickletons performance at Alloa a fortnight ago did his best to cost us the points and also received a well-deserved barrage of abuse. But to all that you can also add prima-donna Hartley. A good player for sure but by wading in with his fists in the first half with Saints 1-0 down he left the ref with no option but to red card him and again has more than contributed to Saints losing a game thanks to his total fucking stupidity. And by the reaction of the fans tonight don't be surprised if he's cost Stark his job as well.

With the plague doing the rounds the changes were rung to the side. Troy McClune started in place of the sick Robbo and McCluskey replaced Dods, whilst Keigan started instead of the injured Paddy. It was JR who was lined up to partner Hay up front in a 4-4-2 formation. The game was a pretty even at the start although both sides were a bit scrappy. We weathered some early Ayr pressure including a brilliant Murray sclaffed passback to give them a corner. No real danger but Saints still struggled to clear their lines.

Our first real chance came in 10 minutes when a good break from midfield saw Hay pass the ball out to the right to Keigan who came into the box and was unlucky to see his good shot go over the bar. Two minutes later Parker was in the thick of it when Lovering laid into him - the start of a real grudge between the two. From the free kick Reilly sent the ball into the box and Maxwell saw a decent header go wide. The Ayr keeper then mucked up the first of several clearances straight to Hartley but JR's shot was over.

Ayr's next attack was easily broken and from it Hay took the ball to the byeline on the left and cut the ball back across the goal which Ayr did well to cut out. Hay had a good break next but was well tackled in the box. The ball broke to Lovering and a slight contact from Parker had the Ayr man doing a real dying swan act. Ayr forced some corners but there was no real danger. Saints broke up the park and Hay sent Keigan free but he dawdled too long on the ball and lost the momentum - in the end we had to settle for a Ferry drive being easily saved. We won a couple of corners but posed no real danger.

In 35 minutes though it went all wrong. A soft free kick on the right was given away by Saints and from it the ball floated into the box. Nobody managed to clear it successfully and with the defence and keeper floundering Craig of Ayr got in to poke it into the net. It was the beginning of the end. A minute later and the signs of indiscipline started to show with Keigan picking up the first booking for a foul on Lovering. Despite winning the ball the ref decided to believe the repeat of the dying swan act.

Then a minute later a free-for-all erupted in the middle of the park after McCann was fouled. With the Ayr players, Hay and McCluskey squaring up in waded JR from a few yards off with fists flying at Annand. Both guilty and when the dust settled there was no surprise to see JR sent off. The big surprise was Annand only getting a yellow despite giving as good as he got. The home fans opinion of the ref didn't exactly improve when a deliberate Craig handball a couple of minutes later to block a pass forward for Saints was given but allowed to go without a caution.

But worst was to come. Maxwell saw a decent header saved a couple of minutes before the break after Parker and McClune combined well to get a decent cross over. And a minute later the home stand went mental when after slipping behind the defence into the box McCann was clearly brought down. No penalty said the ref, Stark went daft on the touchline and McCann picked up a booking for dissent.

Second-half saw Tommy come on for McCann and Saints go to a 3-4-2 formation with McClune pushing forward on the right a bit more. Within a couple of minutes Hay slipped the ball to Tommy on the left and he left the defence standing to get a cross over to the back post which Keigan headed just wide. Hay had a shot blocked a couple of minutes later and when the ball broke to Ferry his soft shot was saved. Keigan was next with a good run up the right and cross to Hay but his header was saved.

On the hour mark we had our best chance when a Reilly corner fell to Tommy. His pseudo-shot was deflected to Ferry but the youngster was too slow to react and the keeper saved at his feet. A minute later Hay set up Tommy who got to the corner and crossed for the former to get a great header in which clipped the bar and went over. At the other end Main made a great save from an Annand header as Ayr took advantage of us pressing forward and then followed it up with a block from Grady's attempt at the rebound. And in 65 minutes they had the ball in the net but it was correctly ruled out for offside. Saints defence was looking more than a bit panicky at times and the lack of tackling from midfield (both Ferry and Reilly unable to close down their men) meant we were under pressure.

Three minutes later and it paid off when McClune was forced into conceding a corner. The ball was whipped in and Craig scored with a great header with the defence and keeper pretty much blameless. And a couple of minutes later we nearly went further behind when a Ferry miskick went to Annand and only Maxwell's goal line clearance prevented a third. A minute later Ayr's no 2 was booked for a late challenge on Tommy.

At the same time Ferry was replaced by Ryan Stevenson to little effect. From the free-kick into the box Hay flicked it on and Keigan turned and hit a great shot that was tipped wide. But by now the chants for Kernaghan and booing of Stark had started with "Billy, Get Tae Fuck" one of the wittier ones.

The players were obviously affected by it. Ten minutes from time, Keigan had a good run up the right and got to the byeline but elected to shoot across goal instead of cutting the ball back - cue for the boo-boys to start on him as well. He won a corner a minute later and from it got on the end of Reilly's kick at the back post only for the keeper to make a good save. He had another shot go over but if anything summed it up it was Tommy putting a decent ball into the box with a couple of minutes left and none of the blue shirts able to get a shot in.

MoM for me was Parker - despite a daft booking in the first half he managed to improve as the game went on. Mentions too for Hay, Maxwell and Tommy. But apart from that the rest looked distinctly average with a real lack of any sign of leadership on the park for the 2nd 45.

As for Stark, today's result was probably a lot less his fault than some in the past but ironically has probably sealed his fate - the boos of previous weeks have turned into calls for his head. A crowd today of 2003 (yup another record) is but one indicator of his backing amongst the fans. Time's up Billy - you've tried your best but please leave whilst you have some dignity.

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