Temple Of Saints - Only One Jim Weir
Jim Weir Testimonial 11/05/2004
Saints 1 Newcastle United 2
Team : Nelson, McQuilken, Maxwell, Fotheringham, Weir,
Forsyth, Stevenson, Taylor, Parker, Sid, McLaughlin
Subs : Cuthbert, Dods, Malone, Vata, Paddy, Fraser
Okay,
so it wasn't an all-star lineup that provided the opposition for Captain
Jim's testimonial, and the weather was pretty abysmal, but that didn't
really matter as in the end the crowd was there to pay tribute to one of
the most dedicated and honest players to have worn the Saints colours. And
if tonight sees the end of his career on the park at Saints he went out on
a high with a large crowd and a decent game against a very good young
Newcastle side. It also hopefully gave the home fans a bit more of a
reason to be optimistic for the future with some neat attacking play from
the next generation of Saints. Sure some were playing for a new deal, but
if they can show that form then perhaps the rebuilding in the summer won't
need to be as drastic as we all thought.
John Connolly made several changes for the game with Captain Jim playing
at right back and Forsyth partnering Maxwell in the middle. Ryan Stevenson
was out on the right wing leaving Foxy and Taylor through the centre.
Unfortunately within 5 minutes we were behind. McLaughlin conceded a
freekick on the edge of the area which Nelson tipped over the bar. But
from the resulting corner, a scuffle in the area saw Saints fail to clear
their lines properly and when the ball fell to a Magpie 7 yards out, he
blasted the ball in off the underside of the bar.
Saints went back up the park and forced a corner from which Weir had a
header blocked. Then Taylor controlled the ball well and chipped it into
the box for the onrunning Stevenson, but Ryan was ruled offside. Newcastle
had a stonewall penalty claim when their player went down under a
challenge from Forsyth but Wullie Young was right into the spirit of the
occasion and waived away the English protests. Stevenson saw a 22nd minute
dipping 20-yarder held by the Newcastle keeper and a minute later released
Keigan on a good run but the striker elected to shoot rather than cut the
ball back to Sid in the box. And 5 minutes after that, Stevenson himself
went on a run down the right before crossing to Foxy who had a decent shot
held.
Two minutes later we should have drawn level. Stevenson, who was playing
well down the right brilliantly beat the close attentions of two defenders
before cutting in and from just inside the box, he fired in a low curling
drive which rebounded back off the far post, with Taylor missing the
follow-up completely. Next Stevenson tried a long through ball which Sid
just failed to reach. Then Foxy released Parker down the left. He cut back
in and tried a chip from the edge of the area which was just over.
Three minutes from the interval, Newcastle had a headed goal chalked off
for a dubious offside. That was followed up on the stroke of half-time by
the Saints equaliser. The Newcastle defence were slow to clear their lines
and Sid was in there for a shot that was blocked. The ball broke out to
Keigan and he beat his marker before sending a cracking 18-yarder into the
top corner of the net.
Half-time saw the return of Roddy and Biscuits to McDiarmid's sacred
turf to draw the raffle to welcome applause from the East Stand.
Newcastle made all their substitutions at the break and came out to
attack from the restart. But not until Foxy came close with a
ground-hugging shot which the away keeper did well to tip wide and then a
header from a Stevenson cross that was just wide of the target. Newcastle
hit back and their substitute striker broke through on goal forcing Nelson
into a great save. Then Maxwell came to the rescue with not one, but two
blocks on the line after the Saints keeper was beaten. Unfortunately our
luck didn't hold out and in 55 minutes Newcastle regained the lead with a
superb solo effort from their midfielder Andy Ferrell. He didn't have much
room but it was enough to let him go on a mazy run into the box before
firing a neat shot into the net.
At the other end McLaughlin sent over a cross which was flicked on to
Taylor but his shot went just wide. Then on the hour mark Taylor was
through in the box with just the keeper to beat, but his shot was somehow
tipped wide when it seemed easier to score. The Magpies countered as the
game became more of an end-to-end affair. Maxwell lost the ball and when
it was sent into the box, Captain Jim was there to calmly clear the Saints
lines from 2-yards out despite two Magpies' efforts to reach the ball.
Sheer class. Saints to our credit were still trying to play some
entertaining football but lacked the final touch although both Sid and
Keigan had decent chances go wide.
John Connolly started to change things around for the last 20 minutes.
Stuart Taylor, who had played reasonably well was replaced by Rudi and
then Stephen Fraser came on in place of Maxwell (and within 2 minutes had
taken the piss out of a Newcastle striker with some great skill).
Saints kept the pressure on the Newcastle defence. Parker fired a neat
cross across the goalmouth which Wee Brian just failed to connect with and
then Stevenson had a good run and shot saved. Vata set up Foxy with 13
minutes left but his show went just over the bar. With 12 minutes to go
the home support got the chance to cheer another favourite as Paddy came
on to replace Sid, to little real effect though. Foxy had another effort
go just wide in the 80th minute and then Malone replaced Parker whose
applause to the fans more than shows that his future lies elsewhere. The
only other real piece of action came four minutes from time when Flash and
one of the Newcastle subs clashed after a heavy tackle on the Saints
player - handbags at dawn stuff though.
No doubt the new Saints manager will gain a fair bit from the game.
Whether it's a new training and tactics regime or just the pressing need
to win a new deal that was behind it all doesn't matter - the fans were
more than entertained tonight and we saw some real effort and no small
amount of skill on the park. All of which bodes well for the future. MoM
had to be Jim Weir - but if it hadn't been his testimonial then most of
the Saints midfield would be in contention with Ryan the Right-Winger
possibly just shading it.
But the final whistle showed what tonight was all about as an emotional
Weir come over to milk the plaudits from the East Stand - there's not much
more to say than no matter what the future holds he's one of the Saintee
legends now.
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