Temple Of Saints - Blowin in the Wind

Bells League Division One 02/10/2004

Clyde 1 Saints 0 League Table Here

Team : McGregor, Jordan, Fotheringham, Mahood, Rutkiewicz, Maxwell, Baxter, Sheerin, Hay, Peaso, Hardy
Subs : Cuthbert, Moore, Hannah, McCann, Trialist (Bobby Linn)

Ah Broadwood - the ground with the atmosphere to make McDiarmid feel like the San Siro. Still who wants all that Latin passion when you've got a chance to sit in a freezing cold dump in Cumbernauld watching Saints try to salvage some degree of pride after the embarrassment they subjected us to on Tuesday. In the end we perhaps regained some shards of respectability but the points stayed with Clyde. But the performance was at least a bit better even if the lack of chances up front was enough to make you weep.

After his dead-leg on Tuesday, Peaso started the game with Chris Hay up front as Moore dropped to the bench. Joining him in getting the splinters up the backside was McCann and Hannah as the mysterious Mahood got a start alongside Sheerin in the centre of midfield. No place for either Pamela or McConalogue in the side but we did have a mystery trialist on the bench - Bobby Linn the ex-Scumdee striker who has apparently signed but the paperwork wasn't through.

The game started in the usual howling gale that always see to occur at Broadwood with Saints playing against the sort of wind that makes a lottery of trying to play a high, long ball to a wee striker - so guess what we did? Still, Saints looked infinitely better than the shambolic show midweek with the away support (crammed into a corner of the main stand) treated to a blue-shirted midfielder actually passing the ball to a teammate. Is there no end to the skills these players are learning? And the pressure saw Saints set up Hay for a 5th minute effort that was blocked.

Clyde hit back (when their players managed to remain upright that is) with a corner that Rutkiewicz cleared and then in the 11th minute Harty had the ball in the net after getting on the end of a wind-assisted clearance from his keeper but was ruled offside. Lee Hardy had a decent run and cut inside but his shot went wide. But Clyde came closer a minute or so later when Fozzy's passback to RobRoy was intercepted but the final shot went wide. But in the 17th minute Clyde took the lead. Sheridan set up Harty who got into the Saints area. He was closed down but Maxwell and Fozzy couldn't get t e tackle in. Harty squared the ball and found Sheridan who just beat his marker Mahood and fired a low 12-yard shot past McGregor.

Saints tried to hit back. Peaso, who was coming in for some hefty challenges, won a freekick. Sheerin, quite aptly dummied the ball and Fozzy fired in a low attempt that didn't really trouble the keeper. Then in the 25th minute Baxter showed Anti-Atkins Bollan a clean pair of heels . He got to the line and cut the ball back across the area where it appeared to be handled by a defender. Of course it was Stuart Dougal in charge so the whistle remained silent and the attack broke down when Hay and Peaso had shots blocked.

Clyde pressed back and a cross found Arbuckle unmarked and he missed an absolute sitter. Mahood became the first player booked for a foul on Harty as Dougal showed his colours, but chances were at a premium although we could take some heart from the midfield who were putting in plenty of good tackles. Hardy did manage a cutback to Chris Hay but his shot was weak. Then to round off the half, Fozzy tried another header back to his keeper but a combination of the wind and RobRoy's reactions meant the ball went out for a corner.

With the wind behind them, Saints started the second half a lot livelier with Hardy making a couple of good early runs down the left. Four minutes into the half a good break ended with a Mahood shot being pulled wide by the wind with Hay failing to do anything with the rebound. Three minutes later the Saints striker was on the end of a cracking long ball from Fozzy but again his cutback was easily dealt with.

Saints were piling on the pressure and passing the ball about well and in the 58th minute we nearly drew level. Another Hardy run ended in a good cross from the byeline which Anti-Atkins Bollan managed to get a slight touch on to divert it from Peaso who was coming in at the back post. A minute later and Baxter and Hay combined to win a corner, which ended with a Rutkiewicz header going just over the bar. Rutkiewicz picked up a booking on the hour mark for a late barge. Then three minutes later Lee Hardy, from about 10 yards inside the Clyde half and on the left wing tried for a long cross which with the help of the wind went over Halliwell's head and came back off the crossbar.

Linn came on to replace Hay in the 67th minute and looked fairly sharp on the ball as Saints kept the pressure up. Baxter won a corner that was held and Sheerin had a shot go just wide of target. With 13 minutes to go Moore replaced Tait as Saints went three up but by now the players on both sides were tiring and the Saints pressure wasn't amounting to much as the game died down - despite some nice attacking play from the Saints midfield we still lacked the final ball. McCann replaced Baxter who limped off three minutes from time and he had a low drive held in injury time but in the end it wasn't enough.

MoM for me was Fozzy who was the most composed player on the park. But it was a much better performance and Mahood (a million times better than Hannah), Baxter, Hardy and the rest of the defence all played well with McGregor rarely troubled. It's just a pity we couldn't create enough chances - Peaso took some heavy stick and tired late on and Hay seemed a yard off the pace. It's a bit more hopeful but we have to be looking for a massive improvement for the next quarter of the season.

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