Temple Of Saints - Dire

Bells League Division One 12/02/2005

Saints 0 QoS 0 League Table Here

Team : Samson, Cowan, Forsyth, Hannah, Webb, Maxwell, McCann, Sheerin, Peaso, Moore, Keyring
Subs : Cuthbert, Anderson, Jackson, Sloan, Bagan

Well with things going pretty-much pear-shaped recently what with rotten performances on the park and umpteen injuries occurring during the week most of us turned up today looking for Saints to get some fire and passion back into the run-in. And of course, there was the added "spice" of David Bagan making his competitive debut for the club against his ex-employers, as well as the semi-public war of words that seems to have broken out between ourselves and the Queens about poaching etc. Unfortunately the game failed to live up to any sort of expectations and poor finishing along with some rotten ball control meant we witnessed one of the poorer performances of the season.

With Dobbie resting his ankle until the Easter Eggs are finished, it was left to Peaso and Moore to be tasked with adding to the solitary strike of 2005. Chris Hay's sore leg saw him miss out with Andy Jackson getting the slot on the bench. The Bagester had to settle for a place on the bench as Connolly went for his tried and trusted midfield of McCann, Hannah, Sheerin (out wide left) and Keyring while in defence Webb took over from Calamity Kevin Rutkiewicz and Flash was given a rare starting jersey at left-back.

The game started with plenty of evidence that the pre-match "grudges" were being carried onto the park with some hefty challenges going in from the Queens players. Mind you, that was about the only excitement for the sparse crowd in the opening thirty minutes or so as both teams contrived to produce a display of some of the poorest footballing skills we've seen this season - plenty of effort and fight but nobody willing to take a chance. It wasn't until the 6th minute that we had a shot going anywhere near the target with a freekick from the right floating into the box where it found Webb who, despite having his shirt held, managed to turn and shoot with the ball sailing over the bar.

Apart from that there was little to smile about in the opening stages - McCann was getting plenty of room down the right wing but too often he'd play a short ball to Peaso or Hannah and the chance would be gone. The fans were given something to shout about after 10 minutes though as wannabe-minister Mike McCurry was on the receiving end after booking Flash for a foul on Bowey. That was Forsyth's first offence of the afternoon and didn't even deserve a warning never mind a card, and grated all the more given the challenges the Doonhamers were putting in on Peaso and Moore beforehand.

Craig Samson was called into action for the freekick when the ball came into the box and the Saints keeper had to tip the ball round the post. Generally though the game was dire. Too many passes were going astray for Saints and the positioning when we had the ball left a lot to be desired. Still, with only 21 minutes on the clock, we finally managed to get a shot on target. David Hannah was the man behind the move as he pounced on a slack QoS defence to win the ball on the right. He played a quick one-two with Peaso but his final low shot was blocked by the away keeper. QoS came back three minutes later with Bowey given acres of space in the middle of the park. He waltzed forward unchallenged by a blue shirt before trying his luck from about 25 yards out with a dipping drive which Samson tipped over the bar. Wood put the corner over the bar.

Saints seemed to waken up a bit after that. Moore set up McCann but he shot wide. Then a Saints freekick into the box was cleared as far as Keyring but his shot was blocked by Moorie. A few minutes later and Moore's persistence forced a corner. From it they found Ryan who set up Keyring. He took a couple of touches before trying a 20-yarder that dipped suddenly and came back off the underside off the bar. Peaso was there for the follow-up but stuck the rebound wide. McCann was fouled on the edge of the box next, but the freekick was held. Saints enjoyed a good spell of possession after that but all the good work ended in a poor backwards header from Moore after he got to Peaso's cross. The half ended with a Paton shot which went just over the bar.

We started the second half a bit livelier and McCann and Hannah combined well to win an early corner. The ball was sent over to the back post where it looked like it was going to be forced over the line but somehow Barnard in the Queen's goal pulled of a double save to clear the ball off the line. Moore had another good run in the 53rd minute before being fouled heavily by Thomson. The Queen's defender escaped a booking and when the freekick came into the box McCann saw a weak shot easily cleared. And four minutes later he should have done a lot better after being released by Moore at the halfway line. Ryan timed his run well and cut in behind the defence to set himself up with only the goalie to beat - so in another prime example of rank finishing he spoilt it all by pulling his shot wide of the goal. That was a rare moment of hope though.

By the hour mark it was back to normal with a poor Hannah pass failing to find Ryan and allowing QoS to break with Lyle through one-on-one only to fire straight at Samson - at least they hit the target though. Flash was then fouled off the ball by Wood which incensed John Connolly so much that the Rev McCurry had to go over and teach him the parable of forgiveness. On the park Peaso was too slow to intercept a loose back pass whilst a run down the right saw the Saints striker send a chip across the Saints goal - the ball broke to Keyring on the edge of the box but his effort was blocked and McCann hesitated and ended up settling for a corner. And in the 68th minute Peaso did well out on the left wing to dispossess Paton but his final ball was woeful again going behind both Moore and McCann who were waiting in the box.

Flash blocked a QoS freekick before the sparse away support managed a chorus of boos as Bagan came on for Sheerin the Untouchable whose departure was greeted warmly by the Saints fans after another poor game. But the action had died down a bit and the chances were few and far between. Wood had a low shot go across Samson's goal with 11 minutes to go. Jackson was given a chance to pull off a miracle as Connolly replaced Moore with the youngster for all of the last three minutes. Even then we forced a series of corners which ended up in nothing more than a couple of Keyring and Peaso shots deflected and a Peaso header held - to be honest we never looked like scoring.

Another chorus of boos saw the players left the park. Whilst we never looked like losing (or even conceding given Queen's reliance on the counter-attack), the overall play left a lot to be desired. Plenty of huff and puff was on show but too many basic errors. Defensively we looked sound enough - both Flash and Cowan were excellent. Hannah and my MoM McCann were good in midfield and up front Moore put in a good shift but we still lack the cutting edge and until that's sorted out we're going to remain in the current dodgy situation.

At least it's just a quiet trip to Love St next week!!!

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