Temple Of Saints - Writing on the Wall

Bells League Division One 20/09/2003

Saints 0 Raith 1 League Table Here

Team : Cuthbert, J-Ro, Malone, Bernard, Dods, Maxwell, Parker, Reilly, Mixu, Sid, Robertson
Subs : Nelson, Forsyth, McLaughlin, Baxter, Foxy

McDiarmid park will lie empty tonight. There will be a sound there though - a regular squeaking as the screw holding Billy Stark's peg on the wall slowly turns. Remember when Partick came to town 11 years ago and McLelland's reign ended? Or at Easter Rd two years ago when Sandy Clark finally met the writing on the wall? Well if today doesn't have the same effect then it was bloody close. It's not even as if we lost to a decent team although it's plain why Raith with their Latin style of play (i.e. faking injury, timewasting and general cheating) have pissed off most of the other teams in the league. But the lack of discipline, basic skills, teamwork and fight on show (never mind responsibility) was a disgrace to the blue shirt. And we thought losing to Brechin was bad....

One change in the line-up with Malone in for Baxter but that was it with the usual faces lining up in the 3-5-2 formation which is in vogue with the manager just now. The North Stand was open to prevent the corporate guys in the main stand picking up any nasty Fife diseases but the crowd wasn't great. And it took three touches of the ball before the first hopeful long punt up the park to Keigan / Mixu - thank you Mr Darren "Where's my confidence hiding this week" Dods. Still we managed a couple of corners early on although Pretty-Boy Gonzales in goal easily dealt with them. Well it's not as though he was under any pressure was it.

The game was more than a touch scrappy early on with our only chance on target (not exactly "on" more like somewhere within a five-mile radius of) coming from a Dods first-time volley which went to the back of the Ormond Stand. But both teams were poor although we looked a lot worse despite appearing to have most of the pressure. Raith's no3 Stanic (think Groucho Mendoza from the Striker comic) picked up a booking in 18 minutes for scything down Keigan but the kick was wasted.

Two minutes later a Mark Robertson free-kick found Maxwell facing away from goal and his backward header was held by the keeper. And just when we though Maxie might have a decent game he gave the ball away a couple of minutes later (something the whole defence was guilty of at several points) Rovers broke and it took a last-ditch tackle by Robbo to prevent a shot with the defender picking up a nasty injury in the process. We broke up the park though and an Eddie Malone cross from the left found Sid in the box but his header went over the bar.

Parker had a run into the box next only for his cross to go across the goal. Mark Robertson repeated this from the right side of the park with Mixu and Keigan missing the ball and then Malone had another good dribble and cross which Sid headed goalwards only for Pretty-Boy to get down to save well. See it's all going well apart from the silly mistakes.

So what happens next? "Can you tell" as Rolf Harris might have said? Yup, 30 minutes gone and Raith win a soft free kick 25 yards out. They take it, it 's cleared but only as far as the Jasper Carrot lookalike player-manager Antonio "Ugly-Boy" Capone, I mean Calderon and one chip shot into the net and they're in the lead, although to be fair it was a good finish and I don't think the Cat had much of a chance to stop it. Rovers switched to a more defensive game but almost doubled their lead a couple of minutes later on the counter but the shot went over the bar.

At the other end Parker had a good run into the box and his cutback found Mixu's bonce but the header was well saved by Pretty-Boy. Dennis had a header go wide for Raith and Malone missed the target for us from a Mark Robertson cross. Bernard was next to miss the target with a free header. Maxwell picked up a soft booking in 41 minutes but showed some bravery a minute later to put in a last-man tackle on Sutton as Raith countered with Robbo and Dods missing. And to round off the half he got onto the end of an M-Ro free kick with a good header which came back off the bottom of the post. Finally Parker went on a decent run but shot over the bar before the ref sounded the half-time whistle and the boos from the Saints support left those of us who endured Broadwood last week sitting there suffering from a major case of deja-vu.

Second-half started with some of the most boring football I've seen in ages - two offsides being the only thing of note for the first 10 minutes as Saints either punted the ball forward or else played square balls across the back and to midfield with a style that was tighter than Jim McLean's wage policy in the 80s - unfortunately that doesn't work when you have players as apparently inept at doing this as Saints have. Sure we're ok at first but then there wasn't a soul on the park who was willing to take the ball forward and try something.

And with the Fifers indulging in some of the wackiest timewasting I've seen in years (let's hear it for the number of free kicks retaken cos they let the ball keep rolling) the clock ticked down and the home fans began to get more than a tad annoyed - a simple pass by Dods going astray in 55 minutes led to some major abuse for the defender. Even worse a minute later and Bernard wide left looked totally frustrated at his lack of options (or it may have been lack of ability). Anyway he elected to kick the ball at a Raith player. So he loses possession and just stands there whilst Rovers counterattacked. Luckily the end shot was saved but that was an absolute disgrace from a so-called professional.

Speaking of professionals, Pretty-Boy showed that he's as good as his teammates with a pathetic dive as he was challenged by Keigan in the box on the end of a Mixu flick. A few minutes writhing about doing a dead fly impression before he sprang to life again. He's a decent keeper but that sort of attitude won't win him many admirers.

The hour mark saw the first "Stark must go" chants die down and the first substitution with McLaughlin on for Sid (yup Bernard managed to stay on never mind fucking Mixu). His first real contribution to the game (honest there wasn't much happening) came 8 minutes later when he took a free kick wide right. "Great here comes a decent cross we all thought" as he proceeded to hit a weak effort against the wall and start another Raith counter. Summed up Saints with no one willing to run with the ball or take responsibility. Keigan picked up a booking for a late tackle with 20 minutes to go - nothing in it really given it was his first real challenge but reputations count these days. It was a sign discipline was starting to go though.

Dods had a header go over but the game really boiled over after Mark Robertson picked up a yellow card for a challenge on Groucho in 73 minutes. The Raith defender was more than pissing us off and after another Saints sub came on (Baxter for Bernard) Groucho went down faking it beautifully after a nothing challenge - not even a free kick. He eventually went off for treatment (with Mixu pulling Malone away after the teenager decided to express an opinion as to the extent of the Rovers' man's injury). But even against 10 men we screwed up. Their left back is off the park so what do we do? Yup play all our attacks down the left against their stronger side. Even worse came in 80 minutes. After another Saints attack broke down and M-Ro lost the ball he went in late on the Raith player - no hesitation from the ref with a 2nd yellow and subsequent red shown. Total arse.

I'd love to say we fought to the end but to be honest the last 10 minutes, other than one great Parker run ending in a cracking shot coming back off the bar, were pretty dreadful. Nobody willing to move or take a risk and even the square balls across defence were slack and it was only through some good luck that the score remained at 1-0 as Calderon missed a sitter with his header going over the bar. And then in the 91st minute a cutback found Groucho with all the time in the world in the box. He shot and the ball went through the Cat's legs but somehow deflected off his backside and went wide.

And there's no need to say what the main chant was at the final whistle.

Surprisingly there is a MoM for me - step forward Eddie Malone who at least showed some fight and was able to get the ball into the box. Other than that only Parker, Baxter and Cuthbert came close to pass marks. Spot the common feature? Maybe it's time the manager stopped relying on reputations as well and played to form instead.

Expect big changes by Tuesday night.....

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