Temple Of Saints - Game of Two Halves

Bells League Division One 03/05/2003

ICT 1 Saints 2 League Table Here

Team : Cuthbert, J-Ro, Malone, McCluskey, Dods, Maxwell, Parker, Reilly, JR, Paddy, Noble
Subs : Miotto, Maher, Forsyth, Marco, Ferry

Some crap defending, some good attacking play, some shite performances, some decent ones sums it all up really. Performance wise today's game was a microcosm of the season with some basic stupid errors from so-called stars who ought to know better along with some half-hearted attempts to play the game by some who can't be arsed and some players giving their all and showing some decent skill. It being Saturday it was time to ring the changes again. JR miraculously recovered from his foot injury to take a place in the starting line-up although Baxter was left out. Ferry dropped to the bench and Malone got the start on the left side of midfield in a 3-5-2 formation with Dods, McCluskey and Maxwell making up the middle. Reilly and Paddy joined JR in the centre of midfield whilst Noble (having done a JR job in the highlights department) and Parker played up front. Allegedly J-Ro was running the right flank but I thought he was a football player - instead we had some bloke in a Saints strip run (or rather jog) about doing sod all for 93 minutes - yup we even had the customary lengthy period of injury time cos we were winning.

We started brightly enough in good conditions with Malone forcing a corner in the 2nd minute. JR's effort was headed clear but only broke to Malone and the youngster saw the Caley defence block his shot to take the sting out of it and make an easy save. Three minutes later and JR had a long-range free kick go wide. Has anyone worked out the goals / kicks ratio - I get the feeling that it's pretty poor these days. Of course after that we screwed it all up. In the 7th minute Robson was allowed to run up the left wing unchecked by J-Ro. Well I say unchecked, he did make a couple of attempts to praise the way the Caley winger was skinning him. Upshot was that the ball broke into the box and in an attempt to deflect any criticism from J-Ro's defending, Dods and McCluskey joined in and allowed Hart all the time in the world to get in the box and shoot home from 12 yards. Despair is too kind a word to describe the feelings in the large away support.

Still we tried to get back into it - within a minute Parker had made a good run up the inside right channel taking 3 defenders with him. So being the sensible player these days he slipped the ball wide right for a perfect chance to cross into the box. Well it would have been if a certain ex-Ayr defender hadn't stopped to watch the game from the halfway line. Attacking full back my arse. We seemed to lose the rhythm and passing skills for a period. Robson was having a field time skinning J-Ro and even when we got a free kick Noble managed to pass the ball straight to a Caley player.

But just when you didn't expect it we managed to draw level. After some disgraceful cheating by Robson on the quarter hour mark, when he was challenged by Dods in the Saints half and dropped clutching his face (the ref rightly waiving play on), the ball froke up the park to Noble who won a free kick on the wide left at the edge of the box. JR took the kick and sent the ball across the box. Parker got it at the other side and re-crossed it into the area where Maxwell rose up to head the ball into the net and make it 1-1.

It didn't make some of the general Saints play much better but at least we were level. The Cat made a good block in 23 minutes from Hart after some more poor defending gave the home side plenty of room to line up a shot. Then 2 minutes later we were reduced to 10 men when McCluskey had to go off for stitches (either that or it was to insert a brain). Caley piled on the pressure with the extra man advantage but their only real chance saw the ball go over. Saints though managed to string the ball together with a neat passing move involving J-Ro, Paddy, Noble and JR with the attack only breaking down thanks to JR being offside (and there were plenty of those on show as well). McCluskey came back on in 30 minutes and a minute later Robson had another effort go over the bar as the defence went to sleep. In 34 minutes we had another good move with Dods volleying the ball up the right wing to J-Ro who crossed to Reilly only for his shot to go wide.

It was the defence that was giving us the laughs. Stupid free kicks allowed Robson a good chance in 38 minutes but his shot was cleared. The ball came to Malone and he passed to Noble but the attack broke down and when ICT countered, Dods and J-Ro were all over the place and had to look sharp to clear their lines.

But that paled into comparison in 42 minutes when Paddy put in his next entry for the Scotsport Blooper Reel. Remember the miss against St Midden earlier in the season? Well this time he was back defending. After running back into the box to intercept a Caley cross, he took the ball back to the byeline and let rip to clear it. Pity he sclaffed the ball totally and conceded the corner though. Funny at the time but it summed up his contribution today and his form in recent weeks. With the cracks starting to show as well the half ended with Maxwell and J-Ro in a shouting match at one another.

The second-half started brightly with Saints looking a lot more fired up. In 48 minutes J-Ro hit a decent cross into the box but Noble was closed down quickly by the defence. Then the defender got to the byeline 2 minutes later and hit a neat cutback to Noble but his shot was blocked and when the rebound came back to JR he blasted it over the bar. McCluskey picked up the first booking for putting in a tackle after JR had chickened out and let ICT advance. He was followed by J-Ro in the 55th minute for a late foul.

But 2 minutes later we went ahead. Parker and Malone combined well on the left side and Keigan took the ball to the byeline and cut across the goal. His cross in was missed by Paddy but the ball broke to Reilly and from 10 yards out he blasted the ball into the net to make it 2-1.

Caley came at us after that and the game opened up - with their first attack 2 minutes later beating the Saints offside trap but luckily missing the open goal. A minute later and the Cat had a good save from Wyness.

Flash replaced the impressive Malone in 63 minutes just after the youngster had taken a knock to the ribs as the attacks continued. The Caley no 9 had a good header in 64 minutes which despite the Cat dropping, Maxwell eventually managed to clear. Unfortunately our midfield wasn't exactly on fire today with Paddy continually losing possession. He managed it again in the 68th minute and allowed ICT to get a corner which Reilly cleared. Then Flash broke up the park and had a good run in the box which only ended when the ICT defender took a neat dive for a foul (hmm managerial experience showing through there then). Noble had a run a minute later and forced a good save out of the keeper whilst we limited ICT to snap shots from the edge of the box. The Cat had to look lively to save from Hart with 14 minutes left although the forward was ruled offside.

Maher replaced Paddy with 10 minutes to go with the latter looking disctinctly pissed off when he got to the dugout (not that he could complain). The game was still being played at a hectic pace with little in the way of real chances although Saints looked good on the ball and were playing with some confidence - especially Parker, Flash and Maxwell. Hart picked up Caley's first booking for a nasty late tackle from behind on Keigan which left the Saints player limping for the closing stages. And with 3 minutes to go we should have wrapped it up when confusion in the Caley defence left Noble and JR breaking with the ball. JR took it on and forced a decent save but was ruled out for offside anyway. Parker had the final shot of the game despite some late Caley pressure in the lengthy injury time.

Overall it was a mixed performance but in the end there were probably more plusses than minuses. MoM for me goes to Parker but Malone, Maxwell, the Cat and Reilly all had decent games. Dods improved and McCluskey and Noble were average. But JR doesn't look like he's bothered any more and John Robertson should be shipped out now - he's too slow, doesn't tackle and is pretty useless going forward. As for Paddy - drop him now. His confidence is shot. Of the subs today Flash and Maher both showed some neat touches - the former looks as good as ever so maybe he'll get a chance now.

At least we won't be 4th!!!!....

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