Temple Of Saints - Where's the Ideas

Bells League Division One 20/11/2004

Falkirk 3 Saints 1 League Table Here

Team : McGregor, Tait, Forsyth, Hannah, Rutkiewicz, Maxwell, McCann, Sheerin, Moorie, Peaso, Hardy
Subs : Cuthbert, Mahood, Hay, McConalogue, Webby

Another Saturday and another chance to experience the delight that is the St. Johnstone Away Game. This week it was the under-canvas facilities of Westfield that were blessed with our presence as the Saints support spent a fortune to endure the sort of viewing pleasure that would be a disgrace to junior football. Mind you, given the total lack of ideas and skill on show from Saints today, maybe that's all we deserve. And as if losing wasn't bad enough we've got another rearranged defence to look forward to, thanks to Ruti's first-half sending-off for what seems to be retaliation.

Mark Baxter's tight hamstring was the only doubt going into the game, and in the end he missed out with Airbags coming into the right-back slot. Otherwise it was an unchanged side for Saints. And just to get us all excited before the game we had Shuggy Dallas warming up in front of us complete with oiled up legs - well anything to keep the female fans happy.

The game started in typically freezing conditions with a section of the pitch near the away tent still covered in frost. Saints were pressing from the start with a first minute Hannah freekick cleared. At the other end, the Saints midfield proved that some lessons haven't been learned with Latapy again given far too much room to roam in midfield. However, Saints took the lead in the 5th minute. A freekick on the right was converted into a corner by Lee Hardy. From the kick, the ball went over to the far post and found Peaso but before the striker could cut it back, Ole Donkey Ferguson came out to bring him down leaving Dallas no option but to point to the spot. After a bit of mind games from Hughes, David Hannah calmly slotted the ball past Ferguson to make it 1-0.

Two minutes later a good Saints move saw Sheerin set up Airbags and his cross ended in a header for Peaso that went just over the bar. Hardy forced a corner next and from it Sheerin had a shot from the edge of the box which was blocked by Hughes. Defensively, we didn't have that much to do although the Falkirk backs were being given too much room. Despite that, RobRoy had little to do, easily holding a 13th minute header. The game was fairly even with little in the way of clearcut chances for either side. RobRoy was comfortable enough in goal for us and we rarely threatened Donkey in the home goal, with Moore especially looking well off the pace. Falkirk had a couple of set pieces but again they caused little problem. At the other end a Saints corner was flicked on by Ruti and bounced around the goalmouth but there weren't enough yellow shirts there to try and capitalise.

Then in the 34th minute the Weans drew level as Saints defence went to sleep. Hardy and Flash let Falkirk run free down the left and the cutback eventually found McBreen who slipped from Maxwell, and had an easy angled finish past RobRoy to make it 1-1. That gave the home side the edge and the nerves began to creep into the Saints performance despite the backing they were getting from a frost-bitten travelling support. And with five minutes to go before the break, any chance of a comeback began to vanish when Ruti was fouled on the right wing. Dallas awarded the free kick but to the bemusement of the Saints support showed Ruti a straight red card presumably for retaliation.

Sean Webb replaced Hardy at half-time as Saints tried to reorganise themselves. Falkirk started the second-half well as they tried to make the extra man count. We weren't helping ourselves when Tait gave away the ball in the 50th minute but the Bairns shot went wide. Again the Saints defence, whilst looking shaky were able to deal with most of the Falkirk attacks although to everyone's surprise / annoyance in the Saints support Latapy was being given too much room - from where I was it looked like Sheerin should have been marking him the way Hannah was containing O'Neil. One defensive mix-up led to a Falkirk corner which ended in a header going just over. Then in the 58th minute after Saints had a rare foray up the park and saw a corner of their own cleared, Falkirk had an excellent break which cut open the defence as Tait struggled to get back - RobRoy was there though to make a great save.

Moore headed one effort behind, then RobRoy made a cracking save from a Campbell shot. From the resulting corner, Saints broke up the park through Peaso who was a bit too selfish and settled for a corner when he had some free teammates to pass to. Needless to say the corners were cleared and Falkirk broke up the park themselves. Latapy was again left unmarked for too long and a one-two later he was through and a low drive past RobRoy found the net to punish Saints marking (or lack of it). Chris Hay came on for Moore and within 3 minutes had one half-chance lob held by the Donkey. Saints though were tiring and running out of ideas whilst Falkirk were able to take their time in the build-up and make the extra man count. And so after Latapy missed another chance, the third wasn't long in coming. With 13 minutes to go another quick Falkirk break caught out the Saints defence and a ball to the unmarked McBreen was easily slotted into the net to make it 3-1. That was enough for some of the supposed supporters and the away end began to empty.

Mahood replaced Sheerin but looked lost (I don't think he got more than three or four touches before the end of the game), but to be honest we were just waiting for the end. McBreen did give the remaining Saints fans some pleasure when he missed a sitter with 10 minutes to go whilst Peaso missed a chance at the other end. Oh and Flash made sure that Marshall's late appearance onto the park didn't go unnoticed.

Overall, it was a pretty poor display after a good start. I'm not sure about the sending-off but if it is for retaliation then Ruti has to be fined - there's no excuse. Up front we were poor and McCann and Sheerin were off form whilst in defence both Flash and Tait struggled with the pace of the game. RobRoy couldn't be faulted for any of the goals and Maxie and Webb were both reasonable in defence. MoM for me though was David Hannah who looks like a new player with his willingness to take the game by the scruff of the neck.

So time for the triple training sessions then?

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