Temple Of Saints - Another 3 pts

Bells League Division One 09/03/2004

Falkirk 0 Saints 1 League Table Here

Team : Cuthbert, J-Ro, McQuilken, Vata, Weir, Maxwell, Sid, Reilly, Mixu, Bernard, McLaughlin
Subs : Nelson, Dods, Parker, Forsyth, Hay

Ah the delights of Ochilview, a ground complete with "temporary" (as in it might fall down at any time) stands as well as a rotten view of the pitch. At least the Scotsport camcorder bloke (sorry burd tonight) wasn't there to totally spoil things tonight but it's facilities like these that make you wonder if the SPL isn't partly right.

Anyway to the performance and despite all those pre-match comments above settling for a scrappy single-goal win in the last minute it's horror on the old ticker. So can I make a personal plea to the boys not to take me so literally unless I'm talking about a 5-0 win. Still at least in the end, it means a few more days smiling. After Saturday's win at Broadwood, the team was totally unchanged with Stuart Taylor's eye injury keeping him out. New referee Iain Brines was in charge and suffice to say that Taylor probably had better eyesight on the night. Don't expect him to pick up any popularity prizes in Perth. With both teams hungry for the 3 points the game started in front of a large crowd.

Saints got off to their usual slow start with the away fans' nerves taking their first battering within a minute after a loose passback to Cuthbert from Bernard. The midfielder was called into action a few minutes later to intercept Latapy (a player that makes Andy Smith look honest). But it wasn't just in defence that Saints were lacking with several slack passes across the park thanks to Mixu and Robertson amongst others. The game was never going to be the most shining example of sexy football and for the most part it was one of the most physical games of the season with plenty of blood being spilt for the cause. Unfortunately for us there were also plenty of nerves on show typified in the tenth minute with the Cat having a bad case of dropsy with a Falkirk cross but recovered to soothe the nerves.

Brian McLaughlin had a good run a minute later but was eventually beaten at the edge of the box. He was definitely back on form tonight and behind most of Saints' early attacks. Just a pity that they were so rare with the midfield and the front pairing unable to link up properly. Our best chance came in the 16th minute when Sid linked with Bernard and Mixu before the ball broke to Jazza on the left and his run and shot went just left of Hill's goal.

The action was end-to-end and within a minute Weir conceded a corner. No Lanky Git James to worry about just Jason Lee who eventually headed over. A word about Mr Lee as well - should any aspiring football player have a need to educate themselves on the use of the elbow joint to gain an advantage then the Big Bairn is your man as Messrs. Weir and Maxwell will no doubt testify.

Sid had a decent turn and shot go wide before Saints were temporarily reduced to 10 men in the 20th minute as Bernard left the park to get stitches in a head wound. He was missing for 7 or 8 minutes but the closest Falkirk came to threatening our goal was from a freekick after Latapy dived at Maxwell's feet. Cuthbert easily held it though. And the Saints keeper had to be at his best in the 27th minute. Falkirk won a freekick out on the left and the ball was floated into the near post for Lee and Cuthbert was sharp to turn the strikers header round the post. The resulting corner was headed over.

Saints were under a fair bit of pressure not helped by the defence struggling to clear their lines. Mind you, the referee wasn't helping either as a lot of soft fouls were awarded to the home side, usually courtesy of a dive from Latapy or O'Neil - and in case the man in the middle was having any difficulties in following the game Yogi was there to provide a constant stream of advice.

Unfortunately the referee seemed to enjoy the sound of his whistle too much and it's amazing that, given the number of free-kicks in the first 45 that nobody picked up a booking, with Bernard warned once. As for scoring chances we were limited to the long ball mainly with a Maxwell chip into the box eventually cleared and a Mixu ball to Sid finding the latter beaten by the keeper to the shot.

From the restart it was clear that a single goal would probably be enough to clinch the win and both teams approached the game with a bit more urgency - in fact Yogi was so keen to get forward he barged straight through Mixu within a minute. He looked almost as surprised as us when the ref deigned to give Saints the free kick. A minute later McQuilken and Sid linked well on the left before the former crossed for Mixu who headed wide. Five minutes into the half and Lee picked up the first booking of the game for a very soft foul on Jazza. He was followed three minutes later by Cap'n Jim again for a nothing foul. From that freekick though Falkirk played a cross into the box which Lee headed wide though Rudi complained that the striker had stuck the elbow in him.

The game was very close and end-to-end with the pace picking up even if it wasn't matched by the skill on show. Freekicks and corners into the boxes at either end were the order of the day but the defences were on top. And in 66 minutes the travelling Saints support were more baffled when Chris Hay came onto replace arguably our most effective player in Brian McLaughlin - but a lot of us booed the dugout for leaving Bernard on at Broadwood and see where that got us. Hay took a while to get going though and he and Mixu were struggling against a well-marshalled home defence.

Bernard picked up a booking with twenty minutes to go for a late foul on Diver Del as the game began to hot up. And three minutes later we should have taken the lead when a long punt up the park from the Cat was flicked on by Mixu to Hay. He took the ball into the box but hesitated lining up the shot allowing a Bairns defender time to get back and clear. McAnespie came on to a warm welcome from the Saints fans with 15 minutes to go and a minute later Weir had to go off for treatment to a bleeding head (note for the stats fans it was red not blue blood!) with a loud complaint to the referee about Mr Lee's Amazing Flying Elbows which seem to have been the culprit. By now it was difficult to see where a goal was going to come from for either side although their corners and set pieces were more dangerous.

With four minutes to go and both sides going all out for the win Scally picked up a yellow for a very late challenge on Mavis but he'd been in the wars with Cap'n Jim just before that. Two minutes later though and he and his side were beaten in a simple flowing move. Sid played the ball out wide right to Parker who cut into the box and played a short pass square to Hay. The big striker seemed to take an age to line up and shoot the ball past the keeper and even then time stood still before we realised it was actually in the back of the pokey. Cue bedlam in the stand and terracing. And in the dugout with Stark's reaction one to enjoy - who says there's no passion at the club?

Of course Falkirk threw everything at us, aided and abetted by a referee who seemed to have a dodgy Mickey Mouse timepiece on show. Weir was flattened in the dying stages and took a long time to get to his feet. Parker set Sid up and he passed to Hay only for the defence to clear. Then Parker set up Hay only for the striker to be cruelly adjudged offside. Scally was given room to run and shoot in the 93rd minute and he came close with a shot that went just over but Saints held out with the Cat dealing with any loose balls comfortably.

Not the prettiest of games but that's three points in the bag at a tough venue. MoM for me was tough with no great amount of skill on show. Sid had a reasonable game and McQuilken was strong against his former teammates. But for passion and fight it's going to Cap'n Jim.

Fat Lady is still quiet.....

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