Temple Of Saints - Revenge is sweet

Bells League Division One 18/12/2004

Saints 1 Paisley Junkies 0 League Table Here

Team : McGregor, Anderson , Tait, Hannah, Webb, Maxwell, McCann, Sheerin, Moorie, Peaso, Keyring
Subs : Cuthbert, Hay, Rutkiewicz, Hardy, Stevenson

They say revenge is a dish best served cold and the last match before Christmas saw Saints in with a chance of getting their own back for oh so many wrongs in the past. The spoiling of John Connolly's first game in charge, the unlucky defeat by one goal in THAT game at Love Street earlier in the season which saw us reduced to 8 men. And finally, just the general crappiness that seems to permeate from Paisley's junkies. In the end there were a few nervous moments but Saints ran out well-deserved winners with the only real complaint being the size of the winning margin with several missed chances. Still it made for a nice Xmas present.

JC was able to field an unchanged side for the third game in a row and for a change he also resisted the temptation to tinker with the subs bench. For the Paisley mob, ex-Saints Mixu and Mavis started along with one time Connolly target Stewart Kean up front.

From the off, it was plain to see that the pre-match "payback" talk wasn't just hype as Saints got stuck into their opponents. And just to remind us of who we were playing, in Mike McCurry we had a referee of traditional incompetence who not only missed Millen's blatant elbow on Peaso in the first minute but with the Saints player left down, awarded the freekick to the Midden. Chances early on were at a premium with only a weak header from Spiderman of note. But Saints' midfield were winning a lot of the ball and as at Firhill, the wingers were causing problems. The 9th minute saw a great move started by Spiderman who found Moorie. His header went to Peaso who squared the ball for an onrushing Keyring only to see the defender get across to cut it out.

It wasn't all one-way traffic though and four minutes later, a Midden freekick was only half-cleared but the final shot went wide. McCann had a good run in the 15th minute and tried to set up Pamela but he was fouled heavily by Lappin. Hannah sent in the freekick but Moorie's header went wide. Maxwell picked up the first booking of the game for a late challenge but given the lack of punishment meted out to Lappin earlier the Saints support were vocal in their thoughts of the referee's performance. And that wasn't helped a couple of minutes later. A Midden corner was cleared and Sheerin set up Peaso in the box but the pass was intercepted by a defender and passed back to Hinchcliffe - needless to say, there was no freekick. Lappin was finally booked for a foul on Ryan McCann.

Spiderman saw a header cleared in the 26th minute and as the half went on, Saints grew in confidence and began to put some pressure on the Midden defence. However, just to remind us that we couldn't afford any mistakes, St Midden had a corner in the 28th minute which RobRoy only half-punched clear and it took several attempts for the defence to clear their lines. Moore had another header saved from an Airbags freekick. And in the 35th minute we had our best chance yet. Tait won a corner which was only cleared as far as Keyring. He ran to the byeline and with Hinchcliffe out to block the cross, the ball broke to Moore but his low drive came back off the post. Peaso picked up a booking for a tackle from behind. But Saints were keeping the pressure up with Peaso and Moorie linking up to set up Airbags and his cross was finished off with a Peaso shot going just wide of the post. Next up was McCann who beat the St Midden offside trap. His cutback from the right found Peaso but his shot was cleared off the line.

The goal wasn't long in coming though and 4 minutes from the break, a great move saw Moore, Sheerin and Ravey Davey link to set up Peaso on the left on a run which beat the offside trap. He got into the box before a simple low square ball to Ryan McCann in the 6yd box who blasted the ball into the roof of the net. 1-0 up and it was no more than our play deserved. Some of the junkies were already leaving their seats - whether it was to escape the humiliation on the pitch or just to take their half-time methadone dose wasn't clear.

The Midden tried to hit back and Kean, easily their best player today had a good shot but RobRoy held the ball. But Saints rounded off the half with a good Moore break saw him run through the middle but instead of passing to Peaso he elected to shoot from about 25 yards out with the shot going wide of goal.

The second half was only seconds old when Moore and Millen clashed with the Saints striker left floored and needing treatment for a head knock. He recovered, but suffered as the game went on, appearing to be off the pace. He wasn't the only one though as the Midden pressed and Saints sat back with the two backs struggling to get forward. Spiderman and Maxwell were immense in defence though with the pair taking turns to squeeze Mixu into their back pockets - a most gratifying sight. It wasn't the same at the other end as we struggled to get any flowing moves going with too many high Balls being hopefully punted forward with only a Tait shot going well-wide of the target. St Midden came close on the hour mark when a long-range shot wasn't cleanly held by McGregor but Anderson was in there to put the ball behind for a corner before a junkie could capitalise. And when the corner came in, Reilly, sporting a high-fashion bleached hairdo stuck it well over the bar. Tait sent a long ball forward and found Moore and his cross into the box was tapped on by Peaso for Keyring but his curling shot was held by Hinchcliffe.

Moorie eventually limped off to be replaced by Chris Hay. His first action was to be involved in defending a freekick. And in a clever move the Midden chipped the Saints wall and found Kean but RobRoy held the shot. With the Junkies pressing, they left themselves more open at the back and Ryan and Tait were starting to get forward, but Peaso looked tired and Hay looked unfit before he'd even kicked the ball. As the game wore on though, the Midden were becoming more and more desperate - but in a strange turn of heart, even McCurry wasn't falling for Mixu's dives. But we were on the back foot a bit and ten minutes from time, an unmarked junkie was given plenty of room in the box and it took a brilliant save from RobRoy to prevent an equaliser. And when the corner came over Maxwell was forced to clear a shot off the line.

That seemed to knock the Xmas stuffing out of the pseudo-Wegies, and Saints began to get forward more. Hay chickened out of a one-on-one with the Midden keeper after Peaso set him up and then 7 minutes from time we had our best chance of the half to increase the lead and seal the points. Peaso in the middle found Hay on a run. He was behind the defence but took the ball too wide. A simple cutback though into the penalty area was met by Peaso. Nine times out of ten it would have ended in the back of the net but somehow the Saints striker contrived to stick the ball over the bar.

Even then though we had chances to score a second and three minutes from the end of normal time a long freekick found Hay on the right and he hit an angled chip over the keeper but the ball went along the front of the goal. St Midden were throwing everything but the kitchen sink at us (that having been pawned off last Wednesday for some more drugs). But the Saints defence was solid and the final throw of the dice in the 95th minute (courtesy of Mike McCurry) saw a Midden corner end in RobRoy being fouled. Even then the ref managed to book Anderson for taking too long to give the ball to his keeper to take the free kick.

I think any of us would have settled for that scoreline at the end but given the number of gilt-edged chances we had it was a bit of a disappointment - especially with the way we let Mixu's Methadone Munchers back into the game for the second period. But it was another clean sheet for the defence and my MoM goes to Maxie who along with Webb and Hannah was simply outstanding.

Same again on Boxing Day would be nice!

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