Falkirk 1 Saints 0 League Table Here
Team : Cuthbert, Robbo, Marco, McCluskey, Murray,
Maxwell, McCann, Reilly, Hartley, Paddy, Hay
Subs : Main, Keigan, Stevenson, Dods, Russell
How do you sum up a good battling fighting performance like this. Well if Saints had managed to keep that up until the end they might have received more plaudits from me but as it stands the last half hour saw us pinned back, resort to route one tactics and in the end blow our opening results by letting in an 87th minute goal. A great and large travelling support in the 5800 crowd ended up trudging out and from the reaction of the home players you'd have thought they'd wrapped up the title. Maybe they have. Seven points clear of us and currently we don't even look like contenders.
After his performance midweek Chris Hay was given the starting jersey alongside Paddy with Russell dropping to the bench. That was the only change with Saints sticking to the 5-3-2 formation. For the home side Donkey Ferguson in goal was greeted more than warmly by the Saints support with "You've only got one knee" about the nicest thing sung about him.
The game started evenly enough with both sides putting in heavy tackles and playing at a hectic pace - even Paddy was putting in tackles and winning the ball. Falkirk had a couple of offsides against them early on in what amounted to referee Martindale's only decent decisions of the night. Five minutes in and we had our first scare as Murray and Maxwell in that tradition of Saints defenders past and current both went for the same ball leaving Murray flattened and needing treatment. Just after that we had our first shot when Paddy started an attack and sent the ball to McCann who passed the ball onto JR with a final pass to Hay unfortunately ending in a weak shot from the man with no nickname.
A minute after that JR picked up the first yellow for a soft foul (strange considering the hack McQuilken did on Paddy a minute earlier and got away scot free). The game was scrappy and the fouls were being given for everything by the ref with Samuel (who was impressive for the Bairns) managing to land like a sack of spuds if a defender looked at him whilst you felt Paddy needed to be murdered on the pitch before Martindale would consider a foul for Saints.
We had a few chances - Marco, Robbo, McCann and JR were in a good move but the latter shot wide and then Paddy set Marco up for his low cross into the box but Hay ended up missing the target. Paddy finally won a free kick on the edge of the box after high feet were used, but JR's pass to Hay ended up in a weak shot which the one-kneed donkey saved easily. Paddy was next up and missed a header at the back post after Marco crossed from the left. Samuel had a shot held but the game was scrappy. Maxwell picked up a booking for a foul on Celtic-daft Owen Coyle despite winning the ball. Cuthbert was finally called into action on the half-hour mark with a great reflex save from Samuel.
The midfield were losing the ball a lot but Saints were still in the game with McCann next to send a first-time shot which was held after latching onto a Paddy through ball. Paddy had a good run blocked whilst Falkirk were limited to an Owen Coyle shot (in a Celtic-daft sort of way). But 7 minutes before the break we should have taken the lead when Paddy got to the byeline and cut the ball back across the goal. The ball appeared to be handled in the box (and JR claimed for the penalty) but even worse was Hay missing the ball when he had a golden chance to put us in front.
Keigan came on to replace the ineffective McCann for the second half and give us some punch up the right which despite Robbo's best efforts we were totally lacking. We won a couple of early corners and the game was still being played at a hectic pace. We had a real scare in the 52nd minute when the Cat dropped a cross ball but luckily the Falkirk player had handled the ball although the Cat did well to recover. Saints weren't done though and Hay and JR combined well to cut back to Keigan but his shot was well saved. Then a Keigan cross from the right was missed by everyone, Hay eventually cut into the box from the left but his shot was just wide of the post. C
uthbert meanwhile had to look sharp to save at the feet of Samuel. Marco took the piss out of Tosh on the hour mark but after that Falkirk began to take control of the game especially in midfield as Paddy (who dropped back at half-time), JR and Reilly all began to struggle for pace and in defence the Maxwell, Murray and McCluskey trio seemed to hit a mental switch telling them to play the route one ball and just hoof it up the park. Russell replaced Hay with 14 minutes to go which seemed strange given the way Paddy had faded. McQuilken was finally booked just after this for a foul on Keigan and then 5 minutes from time a Russell break saw the ball passed to Parker and then to JR but his shot was blocked.
And then it all went pear-shaped. With both sides throwing everything forward, the Cat made a cracking reflex save with his leg from a Lee Miller header. Then from the corner he blocked a Kevin James header. Unfortunately the Saints defence didn't manage to clear their lines and McQuilken crossed and James with an identical header put the ball into the net to make it 1-0.
That was it - totally fucking blew it. Stevenson replaced Hartley but Saints were out of it and ironically spent the remaining time punting the ball up the park as though nothing had changed.
MoM for me was close - Paddy had a great first half and Reilly and Maxwell played well. But Marco was outstanding all afternoon as well but was only just beaten by Murray who didn't put a foot wrong in defence and was the only defender who seemed to be able to play the ball from defence rather than the punt up the park.
God knows where we go from here. We badly need to start putting the ball into the net on a regular basis and change the tactics so that skill is encouraged rather than the kick and rush style which seems to have been adapted. On the bright side (I'm struggling here) Falkirk will still slip up - their defence isn't rock solid.
Mr Stark - the peg's looking shooglier.
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| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | Points |
| Falkirk | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 5 | 22 |
| Saints | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 15 |
| Ayr United | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 14 |
| Caley Thistle | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 7 | 13 |
| St Mirren | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 15 | 11 |
| Clyde | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 9 | 9 |
| Ross County | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 8 | 9 |
| Arbroath | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 15 | 6 |
| Queen of the South | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 15 | 5 |
| Alloa | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 15 | 5 |
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