Temple Of Saints - Saints Throw it Away

Bells League Division One 13/11/2004

Saints 1 Ross County 1 League Table Here

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

Hmm - lunchtime kick-offs are strange. Walking out of the ground just as the rest of Scotland are about to settle down and enjoy a glorious performance / crap show is very peculiar - especially when the main thought going through the Saints supporters minds was how on earth we didn't take all three points from this afternoon's game. After last week's scintillating display of sexy football, John Connolly went unsurprisingly for the same squad in a bid to disprove the "false dawn" theory for the 292nd time this season. Ruti recovered from his calf knock to take his usual place up in defence and elsewhere it was unchanged. The early kick-off did little to boost the crowd numbers though - understandable for Dingwall supporters perhaps but after last week, the lack of home fans was fairly disappointing. Too many false dawns perhaps?

Which was a pity as they missed a Saints side picking up from where they left off last week with skipper David Hannah playing like a man possessed against his former employers. The rest weren't far behind in their enthusiasm and within three minutes the early pressure on the County defence paid off as a shove on Moore was rewarded with a freekick just outside the Ross County area. Hardy took the kick, but stuck the shot over the bar. A similar effort followed at the other end for County. Peaso had a shot blocked as he picked up a Maxie flick from a corner.

But in the 7th minute he made up for it. Latching onto a long Lee Hardy punt, the ball hung in the air long enough to allow Peaso to get up and challenge Lauchlan in the box. Just for once, Peaso came out the better with the ball and a cracking 15yd drive later the ball was nestling in the back of the net. He nearly doubled the advantage three minutes later when he got on the end of a Baxter cross but his header went just wide of target. Moore was next up and his hard work almost paid off when he chased a long ball and despite the attention of two defenders he managed a shot that the keeper blocked.

RobRoy saved a County header but Saints were enjoying the majority of the chances with the front pairing and the wingers working their proverbial socks off. Peaso took a short pass from Moorie in the box before turning and shooting wide then in the 22nd minute the roles were reversed as Peaso set up Screech but his shot was blocked. And four minutes after that, we had an even better chance to score when Hardy linked up well with Moore on the left before breaking to the byeline. He fired in an excellent low cross which sped across the goalmouth and just failed to connect with McCann or Peaso.

Ross County nearly equalised a couple of minutes later when a cross from the left beat the Saints defence and found an unmarked white shirt in plenty of space. He hesitated over the shot though and it allowed RobRoy to come out and make a great block. He followed that with another brilliant save at the feet of Winters when the striker looked set to score. Saints finished the half with another good spell of pressure which saw McCann pick up a good cross from Hardy but his turn and shot was saved. Moore just missed another Hardy cross and then with seconds remaining, Baxter sent a long freekick into the box which Peaso flicked on for Moore who came close.

Unfortunately after the excitement and hope generated in the first-half, it only took seconds after the restart for the rudest of wake-up calls to be given to the Saints players. With the defence barely on the park and the half-time team talk still echoing round the dressing room, County drew level thanks to a goal firmly in the fluke and soft categories. A simple attack and cross into the Saints box found Higgins whose turn and shot took the slightest of deflections before looping over the static RobRoy's head. Even then, it looked like it might go wide But it dropped down and seemed to go in off the woodwork.

The game got a bit scrappier after that with Mr. Brines turning into one of the pettiest referees I've seen this season, continually stopping play for the softest of challenges. Still we made some chances. Moore broke into the box on the end of a Peaso pass before trying a narrow-angled drive that went just over - a few inches lower and it would have gone in. Then in the 54th minute we had our best chance to regain the lead. Moore was fouled in the box out wide. There was no whistle though so the Saints striker simply got up and continued playing as the County defence stood static. Moore turned and crossed to the near post where Hardy headed the ball back down into the 6yd box where Sheerin slipped a defender and tried a shot. The ball should have been buried in the back of the net but instead came back off the post.

A minute later a Saints freekick into the box was headed on by Maxwell (being used as a target man for most set pieces today) to Peaso who turned and tried a low shot that Garden did well to tip wide. County tried to break back up the park but Hannah sprinted back to make an excellent tackle to regain the ball. Peaso missed another couple of chances with one going wide and a header over the bar. At the other end ex-Saintee John Robertson had a header that RobRoy tipped over. From the resulting corner the ball was blatantly handled before ending up in the net - in a rare bout of common sense the referee correctly chalked it off but for some reason decided not to book the offender. Moore and Sheerin had shots punched and held respectively as the play swung back to the other end followed by the first booking of the game for the skipper Demonic Dave for persistent fouling, although how Rankin and Kilgannon avoided the same fate is a totally different mystery.

Hay replaced the knackered Peaso for the last ten minutes. Baxter took a knock at the same time and with the player off getting treatment County took the opportunity to press and should have scored as Saints failed time and time again to clear their lines though the eventual shot went wide. Webb replaced Beaky and Saints took the play back to the other end of the park in search of a winner. McCann set up Hay but he shot wide and then Stef, on for Lee 'Ardy ended up the last move sticking the ball over the bar after Sheerin and McCann had shots blocked.

Overall, it's hard not to be disappointed that we didn't take all 3 points after a great start. Certainly there was plenty of good play and there was no faulting the effort and workrate that the players all put in. Defensively we were fairly solid and the midfield was good if not as impressive as last week - certainly McCann and Hardy both faded later on. MoM of me goes to David Hannah though - showed plenty of leadership on the park and led by example. Maybe not quite a false dawn but for all the work there wasn't much to show for it.

Still that's the easy ones out of the way now.....And at least next weekend we get back to a normal kick-off time.

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