Queen of the South 0 Saints 0 League Table Here
Team : Cuthbert, Robbo, Tommy, McCluskey, Murray,
Maxwell, McCann, Reilly, Hartley, Paddy, Keigan
Subs : Main, Peaso, Stevenson, Dods, Russell
Well
despite the scoreline it was a bit of an improvement with the defence
looking slightly more stable and the players overall showing some hunger.
But yet again it seems we're happy to just bypass the midfield and send
long balls forward in the vague hope that our midgets up front will get on
the end of them. Some lessons are never learned.
Marco dropped out to let Tommy have his first league start of the season but otherwise the side was unchanged from the Caley Thistle game with Stevenson again dropping back onto the bench. And it was Tommy that nearly opened the scoring in the first few seconds when he broke clear on the left only for his low cross to be missed. We had some early pressure but the QoS defence easily dealt with the high balls and when we beat them for the first time in the 7th minute, Paddy's header from Robbo's cross was easily held by the Flying Pig.
With a fairly gusty wind behind their backs for the first half the home side managed a couple of decent breaks next and Saints gave the largish travelling support some nervous moments as the jitters from Brechin still seemed to be present. In the end though despite Saints giving away a series of corners the only shot near target was a 25-yard effort in the 15th minute which went just wide.
Saints had most of the play though and Keigan was causing some problems but as usual the final ball was missing. Parker made a good run only for his shot to be blocked and then a Robbo cross was flicked back by Paddy to McCann only for his shot to go just wide. McCann had a shot blocked a minute later then a Paddy looping header from the far side had the Flying Pig floundering and the away support out of their seats, only for the ball to go just wide of the near post. Parker was in next on a loose passback but unfortunately the dream of seeing Piggy Goram make a total balls-up remains unfulfilled as the keeper dribbled the ball clear. JR was next to try his luck with a decent header from a Parker cross and then on the half-hour mark, Tommy made another good run up the left and his cross went to the far side where Keigan hit a good shot only to see the ball go across the goalmouth.
For all the pressure though we still had some scary moments in midfield and defence with the peroxide Bowey of QoS taking the piss out of Reilly (who looked way too slow) and ex-TFOE McLaughlin putting Murray under all sorts of pressure. But for all that the back 3 held firm and even when they were breached Cuthbert was in good form (although the kicking is still poor).
With 3 minutes of the half left Keigan finally won us a corner and from JR's kick, McCluskey nearly scored the cheekiest goal of the season with a neat back-heel in the 6yd box, only for the Flying Pig to put down his immense bulk and smother the shot.
The
second-half started a lot livelier with a Reilly shot going wide and then
Paddy setting up Tommy on the left only for the defence to clear. But with
the midfield seemingly sitting a lot deeper, it was harder to get any
decent moves going and the defence seemed more than happy to just punt the
ball up the park for Paddy and Parker to chase. Even when we did get
forward in numbers, it wasn't to be with a couple of corners early in the
half see a Maxwell and then a McCann header blocked.
About now the game began to get scrappier and the ref finally realised he had cards in his pocked. The QoS no 5 picked up the first one for a retaliation on Keigan after Parker fouled him and was lucky not to see red and then their right-back scythed down Tommy and met a similar fate. Of course that meant it was a bit uneven so Paddy joined them on the hour mark after his 50-50 ball challenge with the Flying Pig ended up with one of Goram's layers of fat being slightly bruised. Before that though we had some chances to take the lead. A good Parker run into the middle saw him slip the ball to McCann only for the Flying Pig to make the save.
Then
Paddy had a shot deflected from a Reilly corner and JR saw one deflected
over the bar. Finally Tommy saw a low 30-yard drive end up with the Flying
Pig trying to trap it in his feet and only end up sending it out for a
corner. Saints looked a bit better now although Maxwell, who otherwise had
a much improved game, gave away a stupid free kick on the edge of the box
at the far side which ended with the entire Saints defence being sold a
dummy and QoS just missing the goal. With 25 minutes to go McCann was
replaced by Stevenson (sporting a shaved head today). QoS were pushing
forward and winning a lot of the ball and Cuthbert had to make a couple of
good saves to keep us in the game.
The last 15 minutes saw it get desperate for Saints. Parker had a low 20-yarder saved by the Pig but despite his failure to hold the ball initially Paddy was too slow to get to the rebound. Then a JR through ball to Tommy on the left saw the Great Dane's shot go across the goalmouth. Peaso replaced Paddy and Russell came on for Parker for the last 10 minutes. Peaso had a good shot go just wide after he turned onto a Reilly pass and then McCluskey's header forced the Pig into a save. Russell had the final chance but his header from a Peaso cross was a weak one.
MoM isn't easy to pick. Apart from Reilly who looked slow we had no real disasters on the pitch. But at the same time there were no standout players either. In the end Parker's work over the 90 mins just edges it for me although no doubt there will be plenty of other opinions. What's more concerning is the lack of flowing football which was on show in the first 2 games of the season. Saints today for all the shots on goal looked shaky in midfield and defence and already seem to be devoid of ideas on how to beat a 1st Division side.
At least we got another clean sheet though....
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| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | Points |
| Falkirk | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 9 |
| Saints | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 |
| Ross County | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 6 |
| Arbroath | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Clyde | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Queen of the South | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Ayr United | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 3 |
| St Mirren | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 3 |
| Caley Thistle | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Alloa | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 1 |
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