Temple Of Saints - A bit better

Bells League Division One 24/01/2004

Saints 5 Raith 2 League Table Here

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

Despite the postponement of last week's trip to Broadwood, it was clear today that the clouds of gloom are still hanging round Saints. Sure we got the three points and scored five excellent goals but there was still the spell of nervy defending and shaky play in the second-half and the football wasn't the prettiest on offer. New boy Rudi Vata and some bloke called Weir who looks familiar started in a three man defence alongside Maxwell. Up front experience won out on the day with Hay getting the nod over Peaso and Parker to partner Mixu up front with the younger strikers relegated to the bench along with Sid who made way for Stuart Taylor. For Raith we didn't have Langfield to laugh at in goal this time - instead it was Gonzales between the sticks who was to provide the home fans with the laughs.

With the McDiarmid stands not exactly filled to overflowing the Saints fans that turned up saw us get off to a perfect start thanks to a cracking Chris Hay strike in the third minute. he latched onto a loose ball and from 25 yards out turned and hit a perfect right-foot shot into the top left corner.

Two minutes after that Raith's first effort was a 25-yard freekick which was blasted over the bar. Despite the lead, our passing was slack and Raith were given plenty of possession although they rarely threatened Nelson. Well that was until the 12th minute when with Robbo missing the ball was crossed in from their left to Sutton, who managed to turn Maxwell and squeeze a low shot off past Nelson for the equaliser. Comrade Rudi had words with Maxwell.

But straight from the restart Saints got back in front. The ball was played over the defence for J-Ro to run onto. He took the ball to the byeline and cut it back across the goalmouth where Gonzales and his defence failed to clear it, letting the ball through to the back post where McLaughlin (the only blue shirt in support) slid in to stick it over the line.

Saints pressed and with the Raith players looking shell-shocked, our next chance fell to Stuart Taylor whose overhead kick in the 20th minute went over the bar. Then both Hay and McQuilken had shots blocked. But in the 23rd minute we increased the lead with another spectacular goal. From a freekick in Saints half, the ball was floated into the Raith box. Maxwell eventually played it down and to Taylor who turned and fired a low shot which beat the outstretched Gonzales before clipping the inside of the post and going in. The keeper should perhaps have got a hand to it but for a first goal for his new club it was a good shot.

And with Gonzales looking shakier by the minute, Saints were putting on the pressure and Jamie was next to embarrass the keeper with a high cross into the box which was totally missed and only cleared on the second attempt. As for the game, the pace began to settle although Raith were still very much in the game. Of course we weren't helping much with the prime example being Reilly who managed to break up a decent attack with his trademarks pass back to the defence allowing Raith to press forward and close us down. But for all their attempts, Nelson's only real exercise was to catch a Rovers corner. Saints finished the half strongly with a good Hay run in the 38th minute ending in the Saints striker being brought down by Raith defender Brown who picked up a yellow card - although it could easily have been red for being the last man. Raith tried to hit back but their freekick on the interval went blazing over the bar.

For the second-half, Saints pressed from the start. The Raith defenders tried to dive to break up the Saints attack but the referee was having none of it. McQuilken ignored the dive though and played a neat cross from the byeline into the box for Hay who eventually turned and fired in a decent shot that Gonzales tipped wide for a corner. Needless to say that was cleared quickly enough. Then Stanic went in heavily on J-Ro leaving the player down - he picked up a yellow card for his two-footed challenge. Meanwhile in defence Jim Weir showed he was back. Possibly lacking some match sharpness he led at the back and in the 51st minute got back to the byeline to beat Pereira to the ball, prevent a corner and clear his lines. Then Vata made about his only mistake of the game holding the same Raith attacker and conceding a free kick on the edge of the box which Calderon put well wide.

The game had quietened down but Saints didn't look 100% comfortable with the link play still lacking the sharpness we've been looking for. Raith took Brown and Brady off in 55 minutes and tried to press back into the game but it was Mixu who had the next chance when he got onto the end of a McQuilken cross in 57 minutes but his header was held. But on the hour mark we made it 4-1 when Stuart Taylor in the middle, turned and released Hay who got behind the defence and had no problem slotting the ball under Gonzales for his second goal.

We should have been cruising but instead the midfield began to drop back deeper and deeper and we struggled to get the ball up the park. Even the strikers were dropping back to the edge of the area and in 66 minutes Mixu (who had a poor game overall) conceded a daft freekick. The ball was played into the box and Patino outjumped the defence to header the ball down and into the net to make it 4-2. This was the cue for a spell of sustained pressure from Raith and we relied on Weir and Maxwell to make some timely tackles and clearances. Twenty minutes from time, McLaughlin caught Pereira in the edge of the box and got a yellow card which he hardly deserved. The wall did it's job at the free kick and Maxwell cleared.

Peaso replaced the ineffective Mixu with 15 minutes to go and a minute later we nearly got a fifth goal when Weir got the break of the ball coming out of defence and sent it through to Hay who beat the offside trap. He got into the box but his angled shot went wide when it would have been easier to square the ball to a free McLaughlin in the box. A minute later and Hay was off with Sid coming on the park. And with eight minutes still on the clock we got our 5th with another classy finish. From a Nelson goal kick the ball was flicked onto Peaso who got behind the defence and through on goal. A chip to send the ball one way round the onrushing Gonzales whilst he went the other and a simple tap into an empty net made it 5-2.

Nelson had an easy save a minute later but the game was finished with Saints passing the ball about with confidence to chants of Ole from the East Stand (seems a lot longer ago we were on the receiving end of similar chants). And there was still time for an attempt at an even more spectacular sixth goal when Stuart Taylor pounced on a loose ball three minutes from time before blasting a 25-yard volley which went just over the bar.

Overall there's not much to say. It was a convincing win in the end but at the same time some of the old frailties were still on show. However the team were switching to a new formation and with so many new faces in the team some of the mistakes can be explained - our next opponents might not be so forgiving though. MoM for me goes to Chris Hay for a couple of cracking goals although mentions to for McLaughlin, Taylor and McQuilken. As for Cap'n Jim it was good to see a shouter back in defence whilst Vata walked through the game in a manner reminiscent of a certain other East European defender who donned the Saints shirt.

As for Stark...maybe he's bought himself another week.

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