Temple Of Saints - Apathy On Show

Bells League Division One 27/03/2004

Brechin 0 Saints 2 League Table Here

Team : Cuthbert, Baxter, McQuilken, Vata, Dods, Maxwell, Sid, Reilly, Mixu, Taylor, Hay
Subs : Nelson, Parker, Forsyth, Stevenson, McLaughlin

Welcome to the anti-climax. It might not be mathematically impossible yet but going by today's showing the Saints players have all but given up and are already thinking about next season with certain individuals plainly planning a future away from Perth. In the end we got the three points but made far too much hard work of it and had to rely on some good saves from Cuthbert to avoid another defensive collapse. After last week's shambles, the starting lineup showed several changes although most were forced on the manager due to injury. Weir, Bernard and Robbo dropped out. In came Dods and Beaky to the defence with Taylor into the middle and Hay partnering Mixu up front. The big surprise was Wee Brian dropping to the bench. And there was no starting place for Keigan.

The game started in bloody freezing conditions - actually it's more accurate to say that Brechin started. Saints on the other hand spent the first 10 minutes or so indulging in the sort of desperate defending that's usually associated with the Nou Camp these days. Within the first 60 seconds in fact Charlie King skinned Mavis and McQuilken on the wing before forcing a corner that Mixu cleared. A minute later a slack passback from Maxwell was almost cut out and ended in a panicky clearance from Cuthbert. Baxter had the first of several decent runs down the right in the 5th minute but his cross to Mixu was cut out by a defender.

Brechin hit back and from a freekick a minute later, Templeman headed wide. Saints were struggling to get going but even allowing for that we suffered from an apparent inability to keep the ball on the ground. That might not have been too bad but all the high balls were being targeted towards a certain Finnish striker who wasn't getting near the ball. Brechin meanwhile were playing some neat football with Dods and Maxwell having to be alert. After we wasted another freekick courtesy of Comrade Rudi in the 13th minute, Brechin broke up the park and managed to get the ball in the net but McCulloch was correctly judged to have assaulted Cuthbert in doing so which left the keeper needing treatment.

Almost immediately after that we finally broke up the park with a nice through ball to Hay. He cut inside and fired in a good shot that was saved by the keeper. He didn't hold onto the ball though and after another shot was blocked he somehow managed to squeeze the ball under the keeper and over the goalline. Saints settled a bit after that and three minutes later Mixu headed a neat ball to Sid who tried a cheeky chip from the edge of the Brechin box which went just wide of the goal. That was followed by Hay turning and hitting a cross across the goalmouth that Taylor just failed to control.

Brechin had a good chance when Maxwell cut out a header in the area. Then Hay hit a volley over the bar after being set up by Sid. But overall the game was a pretty poor excuse for entertainment with the Saints midfield found wanting again and the forward line was too slow. Hay and Taylor both had shots saved but there was a lack of blue shirts in support each time.

Four minutes from the break and Saints hit a freekick into the box where Taylor hit it across the goal. It broke to Hay at the back post but he stuck it over the bar. But if we thought we were starting to control the game we were sadly mistaken and just before half-time Brechin almost equalised. After a corner was cleared the ball fell to an unmarked Ally Mitchell on the edge of the box and he sent a dipping shot in which came back off the crossbar although Cuthbert looked to have it covered.

The half-time break was extended to allow for a change of referee after he picked up an alleged injury (more likely he got as bored as the Saints support and sneaked out the ground ). But once the game got underway again Saints went on the attack and forced a series of corners. We didn't get much from them although Sid came close with a shot deflected wide and Taylor had an angled drive held.

The game was held up for another few minutes after Charlie King came off worst in a challenge with Dods. After receiving treatment he was stretchered off.

But the delay seemed to knock Saints off their rhythm and the game became even more mediocre. Cuthbert punched a Brechin cross clear and then saved a Templeman follow-up. But on the hour mark we increased our lead thanks to some perseverance from Mark Baxter and a wee bit of luck. Hay set up Baxter on a run and he skinned the Brechin defender before seeing his effort cut out and passed back to the keeper. Unfortunately for the home fans, their keeper's first touch let him down and the ball fell to a still-onrushing Baxter and he calmly slotted the ball into the bottom corner to make it 2-0.

Unfortunately after that we just sat back and defended too deeply and practically sent out the gilt-edged invitations for Brechin to come and take pot-shots at our goal. Maxwell was first into action blocking a shot for a corner and then Brechin had what seemed to be a decent claim for a penalty. The game was fairly poor though and even when we got forward and Brechin were indulging in some suicidal defending Saints were just too slow getting forward.

Taylor was replaced by McLaughlin in the 74th minute but it was Brechin that had the better of the play with Cuthbert making some great saves. Keigan came on for Hay with 10 minutes to go but like too many of his team-mates he looked bored and wanting to be somewhere else. Still the introduction of the subs added a bit more pace to our play and we nearly added a third goal with 9 minutes remaining when Sid got onto the end of a Mixu knockdown but his shot went into the side- netting. The closing stages saw Brechin force Cuthbert into a couple of good saves as Saints tried to clear their lines whilst at the other end the final chances in the 95th minute fell to a Mixu header and a Parker shot which was saved.

Not the best performance of the season but after last week, getting the three points was perhaps more important. If we were running away with the league you might have classed this one in the "grind out results" category but too often today it seemed that some of the players were just going through the motions. As it is MoM for me is Kevin Cuthbert for a good goalkeeping display in the 2nd half but to be honest there wasn't much to choose between 11 average players.

Still there's always next week......

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