Temple Of Saints - Taught A Harsh Lesson

Bells League Division One 02/04/2005

Falkirk 3 Saints 0 League Table Here

Team : Samson, Cowan, Dyer, Hannah, Anderson, Maxwell, McCann, McManus, Peaso, Sloan, Keyring
Subs : Cuthbert, Dobbie, Stevenson, Forsyth, Baxter

For a change today saw us make the trip to the overpriced Wendy House of the Weans' Rent-A-Ground with a faint glimmer of hope. Even the enforced rest of last weekend hadn't failed to dampen the rekindled hope amongst the faithful that the la t performance at Broadwood had marked the turning point. Of course that didn't matter a jot to our hosts who were more keen on getting another three points on the way to the championship. And in the end they had the hunger and fight and this strange alien skill of taking their chances (especially when given to them on a plate). For the young Saints side it was simply a matter of being taught a lesson - how many of them get a chance in the longer term to show they've learnt anything remains to be seen. The big bad boy from our last visit, Rustybitz missed the game after undergoing knee surgery midweek and he was joined on the sidelines by the Bagester. As it was, the Saints lineup was unchanged from the Broadwood match with the kids getting their chance against sterner opposition.

From the kick-off the 4-5-1 formation meant we were on the defensive. For all that though, the Saints defence were doing their job admirably and there was little in the way of real chances for the home side. Our only real failing was when we failed to play the ball along the ground with the Lanky Freak in dark blue mopping up any punts forward to Peaso. However, the midfield were trying to play football and there was no danger of the likes of McManus and Dyer being overawed by their opposite numbers. After a failed freekick from Keyring in the third minute it took another 5 minutes for any substantial action. A simple long ball from the Falkirk midfield came into Samson's box and as the keeper came out to clear he just beat Duffy to the ball leaving the Bairn throwing a tantrum as he looked for a penalty.

We struggled to make any chances of note. Peaso was well marked by the Lanky Freak but even so the lack of service from the wingers was abysmal. And when we managed that rare cross into the area, there wasn't a yellow shirt present that was able to capitalise on the chance by using that rare skill of making contact with the ball. The Weans had their best chance in the 21st minute. A long ball found McBreen going wide and his angled shot beat Samson but went wide. Two minutes later Pamela was booked for a nothing challenge on O'Neil on the edge of the box. Lotopee's freekick was blocked by Maxie in the wall. Saints broke up the park and Peaso was sent through on goal. But not for the last time this afternoon, the Saints striker hesitated and his shot was blocked. McCann had a cross missed by several yellow shirts and Sloan saw a freekick blocked but we didn't manage to challenge the one-legged donkey in the home goal. At the other end McCann conceded a corner on the half-hour mark. From it the Lanky Freak headed the ball down. Duffy handled it before Cowan cleared the danger.

More pressure a few minutes later saw a cross played into the Saints area where McBreen fired in a volley that came back of the post with Samson doing his statue act. Two minutes later the defence finally cracked after allowing the Falkirk midfield all the room in the world to advance into the box. Poor challenges saw McBreen able to cut inside and a strong finish beat the flapping Samson to make it 1-0. The half finished with a good passing move from Saints finding Cowan wide right but again his cross was missed by everyone. And on the stroke of the interval Peaso did well to cut inside two defenders on the left but his cross was missed by McManus.

After the break we even managed to get forward within a couple of minutes. Peaso broke and made some space but his shot was a weak one and held by the donkey. Cue the sucker punch and five minutes later Lotopee picked up the ball on the left. Just like all the previous games we failed to close him down or put a tackle in and he waltzed into the middle of the park before firing a low shot past Samson. 2-0 and we were down and out - time for the shape to go and the Weans to chase a third. Dyer set up Peaso for another shot that was held before Connolly switched to 4-4-2 in the 55th minute with Dobbie replacing Sloan. Within a minute we nearly pulled one back after McCann squared to Dobbie at the edge of the box. McManus in front of him moved to the side but instead of shooting Dobbie chipped it to McManus catching him off balance - the turn and shot was another weak one.

At the other end Maxie had to look sharp to clear a dangerous Lotopee cross and after Samson made a hash of a clearance to Anderson (who wasn't too clever either), Falkirk almost broke back and scored only Samson's save and Maxie's clearance sparing the blushes. By now the Weans were all over us like one of the nasty rashes prevalent in the Grangemouth area. And with Saints' shape gone and panic setting in the third goal came in the 65th minute and was the most embarrassing one of the lot. A quickly taken freekick (dodgy in itself) found Duffy in the box. His shot was blocked but the ball cannoned back off Maxwell, back to Duffy and after another couple of half-hearted challenges he had a simple finish. And just to add to the fun of it all two minutes after the restart, Donkey ballsed up a clearance leaving him on his arse and the ball at Dobbie's feet. If the Gods had been smiling the ball would have gone straight back into the net but instead Dobbie somehow managed to screw his chip wide of the goal (rather reminiscent of the pre-match warmup).

With Falkirk taking the piss in the middle, McManus was replaced by Baxter in the 72nd minute, with Ryan switching to a more central role. Three minutes later we forced a corner through Beaky. The ball came over and was missed by Donkey but Peaso who volleyed it in at the back post saw his shot blocked. The followup corner was also dropped but Dobbie was too slow to finish. Ten minutes from the end Dobbie set up Peaso with a brilliant through pass but the striker took ages to make up his mind and his shot was blocked. Beaky got the rebound but again was crowded out and his effort was sent wide. Next up was Keyring who tried his luck from a freekick at the edge of the box after Hannah was fouled. His shot rounded the wall but the Donkey tipped it wide. Saints meanwhile were lucky not to concede a 4th a few minutes later when a Bairns freekick on the left found the Lanky Freak but his header was cleared off the line by Cowan. And to round things off Peaso summed up his and our afternoon just before the end after a Hannah chip sent him through behind the defence with only the one-legged donkey to beat - he shot straight at the keeper. It was that sort of day.

Whilst the final result sticks in the throat (losing 5 games to Falkirk does hurt no matter how the Saints management try to dress it up), the performance today was better than our last trip to the Wendy House. The likes of Anderson, McManus and Dyer (my MoM) all did well. But we failed to take our chances and in retrospect possibly the 4-5-1 was too negative. Samson still gives me the jitters and having seen Cuthbert's shot-stopping in the pre-match warmup surely he deserves a chance. As for the strike forces - that's one area needing major rebuilding in the summer but I'm not convinced Dobbie is the answer.

At least we didn't slip any nearer the "R" word.

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