Temple Of Saints -

Bells League Division One 22/03/2003

St Midden 1 Saints 3 League Table Here

Team : Cuthbert, Baxter, Murray, M-Ro, Dods, Maxwell, Peaso, Reilly, JR, Paddy, Noble
Subs : Miotto, McClune, Tommy, Hay, Marco

The day for threes really with 3 points from 3 goals from 3 set pieces and a gap at the top of the table which has narrowed to, yup, 3 points. But if you're talking other numbers that's the seventh win on the trot for the boys and whilst today's performance was almost as bad as the Arbroath game a fortnight ago at times in the end we were deserved winners against a poor St Midden side who looked to have given up on their season already (along with a very subdued home support which was outsung by the large Saints crowd). With Reilly recovering from last week's head knock it was an unchanged starting eleven that took the park (or beach given that Love St had more sand on it than you'd find on the road to Baghdad). The subs bench though did see a change with Flash dropping out and Tommy returning from injury.

The game started slowly with both sides looking either cautious or lethargic (or a bit of both) and despite a couple of decent early runs from Saints it was the Paisley mob that had the first real chance when a free kick from the right floated into the box and the Cat was forced into a save. And it took until the 10th minute before we began to look like wakening up when JR released Paddy with a through ball. Paddy got into the box before his customary hesitation led to a tackle going in on him in the box and the chance went a begging. A minute later a long St Midden ball found Dods and Maxwell leaving it to one another and allowed the St Midden attacker through - luckily for Saints though the tink's shooting boots were on the wrong feet and the shot was sclaffed off towards Glasgow Airport.

Saints pressed back and with the home fans roused from their methadone comas long enough to start slagging off JR (talk about holding a grudge beyond reason) we finally broke the deadlock in the 12th minute. Noble pressurised a St Mirren defender who had a simple ball to shepherd and managed to win a corner. JR went up to take the kick and a deep cross to the back post from the winger saw the head of Maxwell rise above the smelly defence to header the ball past Ludo Roy into the net to make it 1-0. And two minutes later Saints piled on the pressure. St Mirren half-cleared the ball and it fell to Mark Robertson who let loose with a snap volley from 25 yards out which went just wide of the post.

We were in control now and the chances started to mount up. Two minutes later a free kick from the right wing from JR was headed wide by Noble. Then Paddy won a corner which was cleared before we doubled the lead in the 19th minute. Mark Robertson was on a good run before being hauled back on the edge of the box. JR stepped up and sent a low curling shot round the wall towards goal which Peaso helped into the net to make it 2-0 and signal the first departure from the home support. And four minutes later we almost made it three when Noble was fouled twice (which referee Tom Brown decided had to be a free kick). From 35 yards out JR hit a cracking free kick which curled over the wall but unfortunately just over the bar as well.

After that the game died down a bit. Saints were struggling at times to get any passing play put together (memo to Billy Stark - get some beach football practice scheduled for the summer). St Mirren were forced to replace Martin Cameron with a back injury and that seemed to spark them into life a bit. 10 minutes from the break Cuthbert had to be sharp to punch a cross clear and then 5 minutes later Baxter was in the 6yd box to head a dangerous cross clear. But that was it really in terms of action and to be honest it was a pretty poor game overall.

There wasn't much improvement in the second-half from Saints either with the players still looking slow and apparently content (at least going by how far back the midfield was sitting) to sit on the 2 goal lead. We did have one good chance early on in the half when JR cut in from the right wing and slipped the ball to Noble just inside the box and his shot forced a good save from Roy. St Midden had a series of corners but there was no real danger. Saints themselves were limited to a Peaso header across the goalmouth and a Mark Robertson shot which went into orbit.

The ref wasn't helping things though with a tendency to overdo the whistling. But Saints weren't doing much to get into the game and gradually St Midden began to keep us pinned back into our own half - too many long balls from defence were bypassing a midfield who were sitting back too far and being aimed at a pair of strikers who despite running their arses off couldn't cover the ground required. Added to that we had too many players off the boil - Reilly, JR and Paddy were all poor with Paddy exceptionally naff. Nothing was going right for him with miskicks and poor runs all day.

Signs that we were slipping up though started as early as the 55th minute when a dipping shot from the edge of the box almost caught the Cat off his line but he reacted brilliantly to tip the ball over the bar. Maxwell blocked another goalbound effort a couple of minutes later as the casual approach to defending began to be punished. And then on the hour mark the defence simply went to sleep when St Mirren broke through. The low shot was brilliantly palmed away by the Cat only for Gillies (with Dods and Baxter missing) to come in from the left and head the ball past the grounded keeper to make it 2-1. Time for the nerves to start in the away support. So you'd expect us to come back storming on the attack?

Aye well it didn't quite happen that way although we weren't helped by Murray having to leave the park for 5 minutes just after the goal to have a head wound stitched. We weathered some pressure then with Mark Robertson covering well at left-back and Maxwell moving into the middle of defence. But in terms of an attacking force Saints just couldn't get going. JR picked up the first yellow for us in 71 minutes for a blatant bodycheck which just seemed to sum up Saints performance. But three minutes later all was right with the world again when Peaso won a free kick on the right touchline near the corner flag. A JR ball into the box from the free kick and up rose Dods to header the ball into the net and get his 3rd in 5 games.

After that we settled more and started to play some decent football. Tommy replaced Peaso and managed a couple of decent runs although the lack of support didn't help. There wasn't much in the way of goalmouth action for the closing stages. Marco and Hay came on for JR and Noble. St Midden's best effort ended in Dods heading the ball clear in a goalmouth scramble whilst for us Paddy failed to get on the end of a Tommy cross after the pair made a good run up the left.

So we survived a difficult game. The casual attitude to some of the play was worrying and there looks to be a real danger that Saints are starting to believe their own publicity. Having said that there were some decent performances on the park - Noble, Maxwell, Baxter and my MoM Mark Robertson were all good. Dods and the Cat played OK and Peaso had some good runs but needs to watch the discipline a bit. JR, Reilly looked out of sorts and sorry Paddy but today's 90 minutes from you just wasn't good enough.

But hey, the gaps closed another 3 points and the fat lady is still dumb.

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