Temple Of Saints - Fight but nae goals

Bells League Division One 30/11/2002

Saints 0 Falkirk 1 League Table Here

Team : Main, Baxter, Murray, McCann, Weir, Dods, Hay, Reilly, Parker, Panther, Tommy
Subs : Cuthbert, Forsyth, Paddy, Stevenson, McClune

An absolute nightmare of a result and you can easily point the blame at our so-called strikers inability to finish or even take a chance. But to that let's add Jim Weir - from Man of the Match last week to Arse of the Day. He managed to not only give away the free kick that led to the goal but also to concede a daft penalty and get himself sent off in the process. Just what we needed. Still for the optimists left (not many I know) the youngsters brought into the side performed well and at least we showed we can fight for a full 90 minutes.

As promised Stark rang the changes although some were surprising. Maxwell was dropped totally and McCann came into the side as he went for a 4-4-2 line-up. The right side changed totally. McClune dropped to the bench (where Ryan the Rocket returned from the wilderness) and Mark Baxter made his debut instead, whilst Ferry was left out and the Panther finally given a starting jersey. Weirdest of all though was the decision to play Dods at left back and have Murray partner Cap'n Jim in defence. From the start Saints just got stuck into a Falkirk side surprisingly featuring Kevin "Lanky Git" James.

Parker sent a good ball to Panther in the 2nd minute and he got to the box and passed to Hay who from 11 yards out sent a great narrow drive which Allan "Sob-Story" Ferguson did well to tip over. Of course the resulting corner was easily cleared by the Lanky Git (you might spot a pattern over the rest of the report). The fighting start continued although not in the way we all wanted. Five minutes later and Reilly became the first name in the book for tackle later than a Lowndes contract decision. We were keeping up a steady pressure and actually (get this) moving off the ball and trying to pass.

Baxter and Parker won a corner nothing happened of it though and Panther was winning plenty of balls in midfield. Our next clear chance came in 15 minutes when we won a free kick out on the left. From the cross, the ball was cleared (guess who) but came back out to Tommy. He cut to the byeline and sent a low cutback into the box for Hay who ran onto it and managed to blooter it over the bar from 7 yards out - a definite Connollyesque moment.

At the other end Falkirks first real challenge came in 23 minutes when they won a free kick on the right. In came the ball to the box where Owen "the Bhoy" Coyle managed to get his halo onto it only for Main to react and tip the ball over the bar. Another Weans free kick a couple of minutes later saw a Tosh shot take a deflection to go wide. The Saints midfield were losing more and more of the ball though and our defence (never the most creative mind) were seemingly happy to punt the ball forward in the hope of wearing out ole Lanky Git's brain cells. Still we had a couple of chances with Baxter putting a great left-footed cross into the box in the 37th minute which came back to Parker. He turned but his shot was too weak and Sob Story easily held it. A minute later and a Hay header set Keigan up for a break only for the linesman to start playing his game of "Wacky Offside Decisions".

Tosh picked up the Weans first yellow for a nasty foul on McCann and the same ex-Saintee missed a sitter with 4 minutes to go after a Falkirk break via a Coyle handball (sorry haloball) and a Weir / Tommy pathetic clearance attempt ended with the ball landing at his feet - luckily for us he managed to miss the target. And a minute before the break, Tosh should have seen a second yellow when he punched Keigan as they tangled for the ball. Keigan (daft idiot) kicked back and was booked whilst Tosh escaped punishment.

Second-half started brightly with a Baxter cross in 48 minutes into the box ending in Sob Story winning a foul against Tommy. Three minutes later Tommy had a good break on the left to the byeline but Sob Story cut out his cross after McCann missed the header. We had a couple of corners but too often the forwards were failing to show any real speed with Hay in particular having a real off-day.

In 58 minutes Reilly's defending ended in a Falkirk corner and from it the Lanky Git saw his header tipped over by Main. Paddy replaced Keigan on the hour mark but a couple of minutes later Samuel broke down the left and Weir started playing Arse by needlessly fouling him on the byeline. He picked up a nice booking for dissent but worse was to follow. From the kick the ball came into the box and Lanky Git headed the ball downwards and into the net. Still there was a moment of joy when Tosh left the park during the celebrations and picked up his 2nd yellow and subsequent red for being daft.

As we all know so well the heads went down a bit after that. Tommy saw a free kick easily cleared and Dods picked up a stupid yellow for fouling Samuel when he broke up the park - especially daft since the Wean had already lost the ball.

Flash replaced the knackered McCann with 20 minutes to go and Tommy moved into the middle of the park. Saints had plenty of the ball as the 10 weans decided to drop back and defend their lead but as usual our final shot was practically absent. With 11 minutes left Panther had a break up the right and passed to Tommy but the Dane's shot was just wide. 3 minutes later the Rocket replaced the Panther (who didn't deserve to be taken off). And almost immediately the ball broke up the right and Paddy sent a great cross into the box. The Rocket headered it beautifully but Sob Story made a great save to tip it wide.

With 6 minutes to go we went down to 10 men. Weir and Baxter failed to clear the ball and from the deflection Samuel broke up the left - Weir tackled him in the box (although it seemed like the ball was going out anyway). Weir seemed to get the ball but the ref ruled differently and awarded the penalty. Up stepped Sellik-daft Coyle only for the thought of Jim Delahunt watching to put him off and Main to make a great save from the spot-kick. That almost seemed to spark us into life a bit but despite a Reilly effort (well over the bar), a Tommy corner (missed by Hay) and a Tommy cross (the Rocket was just beaten to the header by a Wean defender) we failed to get the wee white thing into the onion bag. A-bloody-gain.

What can I say about the performance - the players fought for the whole game but tactically we lost thanks to too many high balls and a failure to break when we did have possession. Add to that being let down by the veterans (Weir was an idiot, Reilly spent 83 minutes on a booking and Dods and Hay were well off form) and we were up against it. But there were a lot more pluses as well - MoM (IMHO) Panther and Baxter both played brilliantly, Parker managed to look like hitting some form and Forsyth made an impact when he came on.

I don't know if Stark will still survive but if we don't go up this year at least we know the kids are as good as if not better than the so-called experienced professionals who'll no doubt jump ship.

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