Temple Of Saints - Saints Can't Stop the Party

Bells League Division One 15/05/2004

Caley Thistle 3 Saints 1 League Table Here

Team : Nelson, Baxter, McQuilken, Forsyth, Weir, Fraser, Stevenson, Foxy, Keigan, Sid, McLaughlin
Subs : Cuthbert, Malone, Dods, Reilly, Hay

Well that's it, another of disappointment comes to an end. It was glorious sunshine in the Highlands with 6000 fans to watch us try and upset the odds by winning our last game. And for a while it looked like we might do it but the loss of two soft goals and a dodgy penalty meant that in the end the title deservedly go to Inverness.

Robbo and co were still ruled out through injury but Connolly brought in Beaky at right-back in a 4-4-2 formation. There was plenty of youth in the team with Fraser, Stevenson and Foxy all starting, the latter in central midfield alongside Forsyth. Weir also started whilst up front Sid and Keigan partnered one another for the last time. On the bench it was the last appearances for Mavis and Dods. Needless to say our hosts were at full strength.

The game started with Caley putting us under pressure from the kick-off. In the 2nd minute Wilson crossed from the right. The shot came in and Nelson pulled off a magnificent save. From the resulting corner Caley were given a free header but it went well wide. A similar free header three minutes later was saved by the Saints keeper but was ruled offside. Keigan had a run cut out by a defender. But Caley Thistle hit back and when Golabek was given too much room, he fired in a cracking long-range shot which Nelson did well to tip over the bar. The corner saw another free header go wide. Then a 10th minute long-range shot was held by Nelson, as ICT adopted a shoot-on-sight policy.

Saints tried to get back into the game but Foxy's attempt to release Parker was ruled offside, then McLaughlin found room on the left in the 15th minute but his cross was missed. Three minutes later some totally daft defending by Nelson and McQuilken saw ICT get a shot in that Nelson held. At the other end, Sid put a cross in that Ryan just missed. Then a low McLaughlin cross in the 21st minute was almost put into his own goal by Golabek but he conceded a corner instead. From it, the ball broke to Foxy who tried to set up McLaughlin but Wee Brian couldn't control it. Three minutes after that Wilson took a dive in the Saints box after losing out to Captain Jim, but Kenny Clark was having none of it - pity that wouldn't last.

The pressure wasn't off and on the half-hour Baxter made a great tackle in the box. Unfortunately it didn't prevent the Caley opener coming under bizarre circumstances a minute later. A long freekick was punted into box and after a couple of bounces and possible deflections, it seems that Bingham managed an overhead kick to somehow send the ball over a floundering Nelson's head. I'll reserve judgement until I've seen the TV pictures but it did look that the Saints keeper was at least partly at fault. It got worse for Saints a minute later when Brian McLaughlin had to go off injured, with Eddie Malone coming on in his stead. Sid finally managed a decent shot from the edge of the box which curved just wide of target. And we were creating more chances as Caley seemed content to sit back and defend their lead.

Even then though, it looked like we'd need a miracle to get back into the game and silence the home support. And a minute from the break we got it. Keigan was wide left and latched onto a pass. He beat his marker, then cut inside and went on a fantastic run before unleashing an unstoppable 25-yarder that looked like it was going over, but dipped at the last moment to beat Brown and nestle in the back of the net. One of the goals of the season and boy did it keep the home fans quiet. The first half action still wasn't over though and inside stoppage time, another Caley freekick caused the Saints defence all sorts of problems culminating in a shot to put the ball in the back of the net - unfortunately for the cheering home fans, the linesman's flag for offside soon ended their celebrations.

Half-time came with the game finely balanced, and despite Clyde's status as champions-elect, it didn't prevent some almost arrogant stadium announcements about trophy presentation plans post-match. Talk about an SPL-style attitude!

That didn't apply to the Caley players who came out after the break, with the strong wind at their backs. Saints started the half with Parker caught in the box but getting no penalty from Clark. Then Forsyth picked up a soft booking for a late challenge. We had a lucky escape in the 48th minute when a chip found Bingham running through on goal. Nelson came out but misjudged the bounce only for Bingham to totally sclaff his shot wide. Weir was the next to be called into action when he had to block a Golabek shot after the Caley defender was again given too much room to push forward.

By now the home support were fairly muted, but in 55 minutes they were all sweetness and light again. A break from Caley found Wilson unmarked. He got into the box and when Nelson went to his feet, Wilson went down far too easily. That didn't stop Clark from pointing at the spot and infuriating the Saints keeper. Barry Wilson took the kick himself and sent Nelson the wrong way to make it 2-1, and waken the home fans up (including one streaker who entertained the fans with a run onto the pitch).

A minute later Mavis came on for Forsyth, but a lot of the fight had gone out of us and Caley Thistle were playing with a lot more confidence. Parker and Foxy both had good runs end in fouls but only the former's was given. Even our corners were easily dealt with by the Caley defence. Caley were trying to kill the game off and came close in the 64th minute when Reilly was beaten by Hart whose shot from the edge of the box went just over.

With 20 minutes left, Chris Hay came on for Stevenson who had been largely ineffective all afternoon.

Two minutes later, a series of Caley corners ended in a Bingham header that was destined for the goal until Mavis popped up to clear it off the line. Substitute Stevie Hislop was next to chance his luck in the 74th minute but after being put through with just Nelson to beat, he sclaffed his shot well wide of target. Any small comfort of joy we got out of that vanished two minutes later when a Caley corner on the left was nodded in by Ritchie at the near post. Again it was poor marking by the Saints defence with Nelson showing no signs of coming for the ball - something Captain Jim seemed to want to discuss with his keeper in flowery terms as we waited on the restart. And to add to the misery, Chris Hay was left flattened out with a bruised and bleeding face which Meant he had to be taken off for treatment.

Hay came back onto the park with six minutes to go but by now the tired legs in the Saints side were showing whilst the home players were more than happy to play out time at the corners. Wilson had one shot go well over while our last effort saw a Saints corner easily cleared - which just summed up our day - before the referee blew for time-up and signalled the inevitable pitch invasion.

Saints performed better than last week but for all that the recent stars like Ryan, Foxy and Forsyth were found wanting. Keigan had a good game and for his final goal in a Saints shirt he signed off with a flourish and gets my MoM award. There has to be praise too for Weir and Reilly, both of whom came over to acknowledge the large travelling Saints support.

Congratulations to Caley on becoming deserved title winners though. But from a Saints point of view, if we have any hopes of being in a similar position next summer, then there is a lot of rebuilding needed before the start of the new season.

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