Temple Of Saints - Cruising

Bells League Division One 29/12/2004

Accies 0 Saints 3 League Table Here

Team : McGregor, Anderson, Tait, Hannah, Webb, Maxwell, McCann, Sheerin, Peaso, Hay, Flash
Subs : Cuthbert, Stef, Rutkiewicz, Hardy, Foxy

Saints went into this one overflowing with confidence but it didn't take much to remind the travelling fans that New Douglas Park (complete with artificial pitch and supermarket-based terracing) was still a bit of a bogey ground for Saints with no wins in normal time at the ground. Still a 5-game run of clean sheets meant that we were still fairly confident with the added incentive for RobRoy of rounding off his Saints career with another one. And despite the dodgiest of defensive performances at times, in the end it was a comfortable win and this time the whole of the traveling support sang songs about our keeper being a Hun - enough to get Ravey Davey dancing along as well.

Ryan McCann and Jordan Tait hadn't trained due to flu this week but made the starting lineup. Keyring wasn't quite so fortunate and missed out along with Moorie who dropped out entirely with Flash and Hay replacing them. It meant a rare appearance too for Stef and Lee Hardy on the bench. Pissy drizzle was the best way to describe the playing conditions and along with the sort of swirling wind that's traditional at grounds with less than four stands, entertainment and skilful play was going to be at a premium.

Saints did have the best chances of the opening stages though. Hay had a good run in the third minute and tried to set Peaso up with a chip but the pace and bounce of the artificial surface deceived the striker. Three minutes later and a quickly taken freekick (one of the few referee Cassidy deigned to award us) saw Peaso find Flash who got behind the defence but his shot was left just too late and McEwen came out to smother the ball. Conditions and the surface meant that both teams struggled to piece together any flowing play and defensive mistakes always looked likely.

Saints suffered a couple of early corners before breaking the stalemate in the 15th minute. Some good possession play in midfield ended with the ball being sprayed out to Flash on the left wing and he sent a deep cross into the 6yd box which looked to be devoid of blue shirts before in came Chris Hay like a bolt of lightning at the back post to beat McEwen to the ball and stab it home. One-nil and the songs started.

Hay set up Sheerin for a shot next but his attempt went well wide. Accies were forced into a change when Ferguson limped off as Saints kept up the pressure. Sheerin set up Hay with a long ball but Hay just failed to reach it although it looked like he was being held. Accies almost drew level in the 25th minute when Maxie and Jordan decided to play at being silly buggers in defence and their mix-up allowed Accies to line up and unmarked shot at goal - luckily the low drive came off RobRoy's right-hand post and skidded across the Saints goal before being cleared.

Hannah had a long-range effort go wide before Accies won a couple of freekicks at the edge of the Saints area which were so soft you could have called them Andrex and wiped yer arse on them. As it was neither caused any real problems with the ball threatening the International Space Station more than the 6-in-a-row clean sheet record.

Maxwell blocked another Accies shot in the 36th minute but 120 seconds later we doubled our lead after Hay went down fairly easily under an Accies' challenge on the edge of the box. Peaso dummied the resulting freekick and Sheerin blasted it low past the wall, McEwen and into the bottom corner to make it 2-0. That seemed to knock the stuffing out of the home side (and their very subdued supporters), though just before the break they should have pulled one back when a long ball from midfield found an unmarked striker but his header wasn't even on target - the words "woeful" and "finishing" sprang to mind. T

he second half started with Accies trying to get back in the game and Saints sitting back to an extent - certainly the conditions were getting worse and we were settling for Route One most of the time which didn't help as Accies resorted to the offside game. Sheerin saw another low freekick held and some good work from Hannah in the centre of midfield left 4 opponents for dead before he passed to Peaso who set up McCann on a run but his final shot was wide of target.

RobRoy had to look sharp to hold a 53rd minute long-range attempt but there wasn't much call for his services as the game began to die down due in part to a whistle-happy referee and partly due to some tired legs on the park. The closest Accies came to pulling one back was in the 63rd minute when a poor Maxwell clearance was lobbed over the bar. Then Anderson was skinned before the cutback was hit low but well held by RobRoy. Still Brian Cassidy wanted to get in on the action as well and Webb was adjudged to have used high feet when clearing his lines a couple of minutes later. An indirect free kick on the edge of the box though was easily dealt with by the Saints wall.

Twenty minutes from time is was all over. Tait played a lovely ball up the left to Peaso who beat the offside trap and ran up the wing before firing in a cross which found McCann arriving at the back post and he blasted the ball into the net to start an exodus from the home stand and even more singing from the Saints fans. Accies tried to hit back but a 45-yard lob was easily held by RobRoy. And perhaps more mindful of the defensive target tonight, John Connolly put on Rustybits in place of Flash. Sheerin moved to left midfield as Saints seemed to settle for a 4-1-3-2 formation and sat back to protect their lead - not the sexiest of strategies but we weren't caring by that time. And only 5 minutes after the change, RobRoy showed that luck was on his side. A short Tait passback saw him come out to punch the ball clear - it only fell as far as an Accies player but with the keeper helpless Maxie the Unsung Hero was there on the line to block the eventual shot.

The last 10 minutes saw Saints take advantage of Accies tiring legs although the only cloud was a booking for Ryan for persistent fouling - the only card of the night. Peaso had a couple of good runs but McEwen held his efforts. And then Accies were reduced to 10 men having used all their subs and seeing one of their forwards stretchered off with what looked like a bad knee injury - the stoppage giving RobRoy a chance to acknowledge his new song and Hannah an opportunity to demonstrate his Pellow-esque dancing skills. If anything that sort of attitude typifies the growing bond that is developing between the fans and players, especially at the away games. Stef replaced Hay for the last 5 minutes and both he and Peaso had decent chances to add to the tally but in the end 3-0 was more than satisfactory and plenty of reason for the mutual admiration applause and singing between players and fans at the final whistle.

MoM for me? Well I'd love to give it to RobRoy out of sentimental reasons but to be honest the midfield was more of a standout today - Hannah was excellent as usual and McCann took his goal well. But Sheerin for me had one of his best games in a Saints shirt. Defensively we were perhaps a bit more suspect than before but for a change we had the luck as well.

This is turning into a very enjoyable festive season!

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