Temple Of Saints - Saints in Improvement Shocker

Bells League Division One 16/10/2004

QoS 0 Saints 1 League Table Here

Team : McGregor, Tait, Forsyth, Mahood, Rutkiewicz, Maxwell, Baxter, Sheerin, Hay, Peaso, Hardy
Subs : Cuthbert, Moore, McConalogue, Webb, Hannah

So a fortnight away suffering the traumas of Berti and it's back to reality with Saints. A nice wee trip to Palmerston and the return of John Connolly to his old haunts. And after a two week break there was just a slight hint of optimism before today's game that perhaps, just perhaps, the players might have mastered this "gelling" crap that seems to be the only thing which is apparently preventing us from becoming the Brazil of the Scottish First Division. Well while it might be premature to suggest that, there were times today when Saints displayed some sublime attacking play and in the end, despite a late rally by the home side, we just deserved the three points.

Ruti recovered from his knock to play but Fozzy missed out, with Flash taking his place. Chris Hay and Peaso were the preferred strike pairing with Baxter. Moore and Stef were on the bench where they were accompanied by Sean Webb on his return from injury. In midfield Mahood and Sheerin made up the central pairing, but there was again no place for reserve star Ryan Stevenson as he joined the ranks of those who had been playing for the first team recently but had vanished like a Scotland World Cup qualification chance (see also Pamela Anderson and Ryan McCann).

The pitch was heavy enough after the rain but both teams started playing some good football from the start. Saints carved open their first real chance in the 5th minute when Tait and Peaso linked well in the right before getting the ball to the byeline and cutting it back for Hay. The striker took a fraction too long before firing in a low shot that was blocked. A minute later and the Saints right-back had another good run which ended in an angled drive that Scott in the home goal could only tip on but when Hay arrived at the back post his header went over. Queen of the South had their first chance a minute after that when Sheerin's loose pass was intercepted but the final long-range effort was well held by McGregor. And the Saints keeper was in excellent form to tip a deflected chip shot wide five minutes later.

The game was entertaining end-to-end stuff. Peaso had a good shot from the edge of the box deflected out for a corner which finished with a Sheerin shot going well over. Then after a Queen's corner was cleared, Peaso set up Lee Hardy on a run but his angled shot was held. Queen's had a good break in the 20th minute when Bowey was released through the middle despite looking a mile offside. But the official's flag stayed down and it took another brilliant save from RobRoy to prevent a goal.

Saints went back up the park with another good run from Lee 'Ardy who played a good square pass along the ground (novelty value there!!) to Peaso but his final shot was a weak one. RobRoy pulled off another good save from Bowey (looking suspiciously offside again). Then Queen's won a freekick on the edge of the area when Sheerin went in with high feet on McLaughlin (well knee-high for Sheerin which was head-height for the Poisoned Dwarf). in the end the wall did it's job with the effective Mahood clearing the danger. Lee 'Ardy had another good run on the half-hour and set up Peaso. The striker was tackled in the area but recovered to set up Beaky whose shot went wide.

The game got scrappier after that with some hefty challenges going in on players for both sides - still it gave the Poisoned Dwarf plenty of opportunities to practice his dives. Six minutes from the break, Hay won a freekick and from it Lee 'Ardy hit another good cross over which Rustybitz just failed to make contact with. Hay got on the end of another Peaso pass but his shot was blocked. Then the half was rounded off with a long- range effort from Queen's which went just over the bar.

Saints had a much livelier start to the second-half and within a minute of the restart, Baxter broke down the right wing before crossing over for Hardy who headed just over. A minute later, Baxter set up Peaso who laid the ball off for Chris Hay. He fired in a great shot that went just wide although a big chunk of the lively travelling support (me included) thought it had gone in. Queens had a dipping volley go just wide of a static RobRoy's goal. Then Hardy was sent flying after a late challenge in the 51st minute. From the freekick on the left, the ball was cleared as far as Mahood. He played the ball back into the box and found Maxwell who played the ball across the goalmouth. Peaso got on the end of it but his attempt to turn the ball in were blocked by Scott. Hay saw another effort tipped wide by Scott in the 55th minute, as the game livened up.

And Saints finally got the breakthrough in the 62nd minute. A long punt forward from RobRoy went to the edge of the home box where Peaso laid it back under pressure to Hay who, from 20 yards out, fired in a cracking first- time volley past Scott and into the back of the net.

Queen of the South tried to hit back but some desperate claims for a penalty for handball were waived away easily and RobRoy comfortably dealt with the corners. Meanwhile Saints were still creating chances of their own and should have gone two up with 18 minutes to go. A Saints throw-in was eventually played to Flash who ran at the home defence before playing a cross into the box which Peaso blasted into the net only to have his goal chalked off incorrectly for offside. The Poisoned Dwarf had a chip go over before some substitutions for Queens saw them move to a 3-4-3. Saints were starting to tire a bit and were struggling to keep possession of the ball as Queens pressed for an equaliser.

Moore replaced Chris Hay with 9 minutes to go and within a minute he should have been awarded a penalty. A nice ball forward found Peaso who played a neat flick on for Moore who was pulled back by his marker. Rustybitz limped off with two minutes to go to be replaced by Sean Webb, as Queens piled on the pressure with Maxwell and Mahood doing their bit in the panicky clearance department. But the best chances fell to Saints. Peaso released Lee Hardy down the left and the winger cut into the box before seeing his angled shot go just wide. Then Peaso was released on a run through the middle only to be ruled offside. The game finished off with Queen's last attack ending in a corner which was cleared by Mahood after RobRoy was booked following a row in the box.

Overall it was a much better performance with Saints looking like a team more and more. Flash and Hardy linked well on the left and on the other flank Tait (my MoM) and Baxter linked just as effectively - in fact it's noticeable that our best performances this season have come from those games where the wingers are played to their strengths. There wasn't a poor performance on the park with the effort first-rate from the whole side. McGregor kept us in the game early on and Ruti and Maxie were excellent in defence. Mahood is like a holy revelation compared with the negativity of Hannah and even Sheerin ventured forward a bit more. Up front Peaso and Hay were perhaps not as effective as I'd have liked (they could do with more support given the number of times they had to drop back), but you can't argue with the goals - even if the ref didn't let one stand.

Question is - can we keep it going.

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