Temple Of Saints - Bump

Bells League Division One 03/01/2005

Ross County 4 Saints 0 League Table Here

Team : Cuthbert, Baxter, Tait, Hannah, Webb, Maxwell, McCann, Sheerin, Peaso, Hay, Keyring
Subs :Samson, Moore, Rutkiewicz, Flash, Foxy

Last year 2004 was greeted with the delights of scraping a point at home to a Brechin side destined for the drop. The 2005 New Year fixture saw the chance for Saints to be the side to come out on top and help loosen the shoogly peg that Alex Smith's sheepskin has been dangling off for a while. And with the unbeaten run and number of clean sheets piling up Saints were putting a fair bit of pressure on themselves as the fans made the wonderful trip up the A9. So the big echoing thump you can hear is the sound of a club and it's fans crashing back to earth big time. To say Saints were pish is an insult to urine everywhere - think how far we've come since the defeat at Stark's Park - the 90 minutes this afternoon saw us make the return journey at the speed of light.

Of course the defensive side of things had changed - RobRoy's done the badge-kissing act and prepared a cushion for the inevitable splinters his arse will gather at the Death Star. So it was a straight choice between the ever-so-patient Cat Cuthbert and new bad-boy Craig "Delilah" Samson - in the end the local lad got the nod, and the worrying thing is that the odds are pretty much certain that he'll be made a scapegoat for the defeat despite the contribution the 10 amateurs in outfield positions. As well as that of course we had the changes enforced on the side thanks to the winter sniffles that affect the whole of Scottish football at this time. Keyring and Moorie returned the latter having to settle for a place on the bench. Pamela Anderson missed out though with a shoulder injury so Beaky made a long-awaited return to the starting lineup.

A lovely bracing wind and yet more drizzle ensured the Saints fans were frozen before kick-off and in dire need of warming up. and we almost got the chance. An early County freekick was sent over the Cat's goal and into orbit, and a 6th minute corner finding Cowie unmarked at the back post which ended in a bad miss. Saints hit back a couple of minutes later when a wind-assisted 40-yd pass back went out for a corner. From it Peaso hit a spinning shot from three yards out which the keeper punched clear - and typically there was no follow-up from the Saints midfield. Ryan McCann was next to try his luck in the 10th minute when a poor clearance by the keeper reached him. He got into the box but his shot was palmed clear.

Then it started to go oh so wrong. Maxwell blocked a 12th minute Burke drive on the line. Then three minutes later the defender was called into action to repeat that feat three minutes later. Unfortunately the rest of the yellow shirts didn't join in and the ball was only cleared as far as Winters who made no mistake in sticking the ball into the top corner. Never mind, we had the wind behind our backs and plenty of confidence didn't we?. Three minutes later and you began to get the feeling it might just not be our day. Beaky was well and truly skinned on the wing, before a low cross found Winters who made no mistake from close range. Cue the New Year Hangover clichés and some yellow shirts standing around looking clueless - this was depressing stuff.

Within 60 seconds it could have been three. Peaso who was having one of his petulant lazy afternoons, lost possession in midfield (God forbid we dare to press over the halfway line!). Maxwell mistimed his header and County broke through. Burke beat the keeper but his angled shot was blocked by Maxwell - about the only consolation for the Saints support was that all the action was taking place at the other end of the park so we were spared the close-ups of the gory detail. Unfortunately it also meant we had to wince and suffer the attempts at attacking football from the Amateur Saints. Webb had a wind-assisted chip tipped over the bar from a Sheerin corner. Then in the 27th minute, a McCann cross was handled on the edge of the box. The freekick was taken by Keyring but his inswinger sailed over the bar. A total waste of a set-piece closely followed by a Hannah freekick from the edge of the box sailing into space. I can't be the only one to wonder if the Saints players had never watched Heather the Weather on the telly - certainly they didn't seem to have the slightest clue as to what this thing called "wind" was, never mind how to play football in it.

On the other hand, Ross County did. Nine minutes from the interval, Hay picked up a booking for handball as he backtracked to help out the missing Saints midfield. The resulting freekick was floated into Cuthbert's area and was headed home by an unmarked Ross County player who stuck their third into the net. That hangover just kept getting worse.

Saints attempt at getting back into the game was limited to a Keyring cross a minute later that McCann just reached. His shot was blocked and needless to say the number of yellow shirts following up could be counted on the fingers of the Venus de Milo. As it was the half ended with the Dingwall men on the attack (still playing against a strong wind) with a Cowie header and a Burke shot just missing the target.

Never mind at least in the second half, we'd be against the wind, so the tactics (Ha!) of the first forty-five minutes of pish would stand us in good stead. Well they would have if we'd stuck with them but instead it was hoof the ball up the park time. Our joy knew no beginning. Still we did have the consolation of seeing some goalmouth action from the terracing. Three minutes gone and a cross in from the right almost went into the top corner courtesy of the wind and it took an excellent save from Cuthbert to tip the ball wide. Two minutes after that, we didn't even need the aid of any County players as a Webb passback put the Cat under pressure and his clearance was put out of play causing some displeasure - something the Saints keeper wasn't slow in informing his defence of. So much for the gelling.

Saints did make the odd chance thought. Jordan had a cross deflected out for a corner and a couple of weak shots at least landed on target. But we looked a beaten side with the heads well and truly down. Moore replaced the totally ineffective Hay on the hour mark just as Peaso lined up for a freekick on the edge of the County box. His low drive went out for a corner and as usual that was about as effective as a Peter Fyhr shot. Moore forced a couple of saves from the home keeper before Jordan was the ritual sacrifice to allow Connolly to bring on RustyBitz as we moved to a 3-5-2 formation. County though were quite happy to sit back and soak up the minuscule amounts of pressure we tried to generate, with a Hannah shot over the bar the closest to anything threatening at the home end. When Ross County did waken up for the last fifteen minutes or so, it just served to highlight how shit the Saints defence was with each attack forcing us into more and more panicky displays.

Foxy replaced Beaky in midfield with ten minutes to go but a minute later County completed their slaughter. Maxwell conceded a corner and the ball was played put to an unmarked Cowie at the edge of the area (are we just allergic to him or something?). His shot was well struck but the Cat did well to get down and block it. Unfortunately it spun out of his hands and there was Lauchlan to follow up and poke the ball home, with the nearest yellow shirts belonging to the fans behind the goal. The game petered out to a lacklustre finish after that although Hannah picked up a booking for letting his frustration get the better of him and doing the old "handbags at dawn" routine. Oh aye and Webb had a header in injury time - it went wide.

MoM for me was McCann - along with Maxwell the only one to get pass marks this afternoon. Suffice to say Connolly and Weir have probably had better days at the office. But with a lot of the good work (and goal difference) of the last few weeks coming undone in such dramatic fashion this afternoon it remains to be seen whether or not the players have the necessary bouncebackability to start another winning run. Certainly the newly-reopened transfer window gives some scope to revamp the squad, although perhaps some of the fringe players deserve a chance - Hardy, Stef and Stevenson couldn't have been much worse than the likewise of Hay, Peaso or Keyring today.

A New Year is meant to be a new start - let's just hope Saints take advantage of the next few weeks or else we'll be back to the "little" targets again.

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