Temple Of Saints - A Dull End

Bells League Division One 07/05/2005

Saints 0 St. Midden 0 League Table Here

Team : Cuthbert, Baxter, Keyring, Webb, Maxwell, Forsyth, Stevenson, Hannah, Hay, Dobbie, Sheerin
Subs : Samson, Jackson, Cowan, Bernard, McManus

Well that's that then - we can finally consign the 2004-05 season to the backs of our minds only to ever be brought back out again when we're really depressed (or else when we're sitting in the San Siro thinking about the day it finally turned round for Saints). And the final game had to be against those opponents from the West Coast against whom the tiniest piece of spice has been added to for the encounters this season. Little in the way of excitement or entertainment today as the season ended with another damp squib of a game.

Owen Coyle has had a fairly easy time of it since taking over at Saints with everyone realising that there will be a lot of rebuilding to do this summer both in getting the players in to do a decent job and instilling some of the pride and passion back into a Saints side that has sorely lacked for both qualities since the turn of the year. Today was the last chance for some of the Saints players to stake a claim for a new deal next year - or in certain cases the chance to say farewell to the McDiarmid support. As it was Maxie started the game in a makeshift side. In came Baxter, Keyring and Hannah as Cowan dropped to the bench alongside Jackson, Cowan and that legendary figure from mythology Paul Bernard. We started with a 3-5-2 formation before switching to a more traditional 4-4-2 towards the end. Either way it didn't matter because until the midfield is sorted out, we're never going to create enough chances. The manager has his work cut out.

As it was, the opening stages saw Saints restricted to long-range efforts. Ryan saw a 7th minute chip go wide then the same player saw a good cross into the box held with a lack of blue shirts nearby. Next up was Dobbie with a good freekick from the edge of the box held. Five minutes after that, Chris Hay was brought down on the edge of the area. Again it was Dobbie who stepped up with a low curling drive round the Midden wall, only for Smith to tip it round the post. Unfortunately the game failed to keep up the pace of the opening stages as both defences began to take over. Saints were lacking the killer touch to create any chances but Maxie, Webb and the impressive Flash were easily dealing with anything Midden could throw at them.

The game was livening up elsewhere though as both Stevenson and Hannah got themselves involved in some hefty challenges. Hannah did manage a good one-two on a run on the half-hour mark, but his final shot was one of those pathetic efforts that, even if it had come close to the target, was never going to trouble the keeper. St. Midden began to press back but never really threatened the Cat with Saints blocking shots and Webb and Maxwell winning most of the balls in the air. The half ended with Dobbie making a couple of chances. First, he latched onto the end of a Baxter ball down the right wing but his angled drive was blocked by Smith. Then he broke through the middle in the final minute but elected to try his luck from 25 yards out with only the keeper to beat - and the shot summed up the season as the ball went well wide.

The second-half wasn't much better with fully ten minutes of depressing rubbish passing before the Paisley mob almost broke the deadlock from a corner, with a free header that went wide. Next up they won a freekick on the edge of the Saints area after Webb was penalised for a challenge from behind on Russell. The Cat easily held Broadfoot's attempt.

With an hour gone, Doc OC started the surgery on the side with Chris Hay making way for Andy Jackson and Stevenson replaced by Paul Bernard. Within a couple of minutes the nippy striker had caused the opposition problems winning a freekick on the edge of the area. Dobbie took the kick floating the ball into the box but Jacko's header was cleared.

The subs certainly livened up the game as both Bernard and Jackson were seeing plenty of the ball, with the former showing some good touches and looking fairly sharp on the ball. However for all the hard work and neat touches, Saints were unable to piece together any really penetrating moves and as the game wore on both Hannah and Sheerin in the middle of the park began to sit back a lot deeper and left a bigger gap between themselves and the front men, while at the same time crowding out the Saints box and making it more difficult to clear any danger that the Midden might cause - not that they caused too many problems. In fact it was Saints that managed a decent shot with 14 minutes left as Forsyth ventured forward and played a neat one-two with Jackson before firing a shot narrowly over the bar. Midden began to get back into the game with a 79th minute counter-attack ending in a shot going across Cuthbert's goal. Keyring had a cheeky overhead kick held as both sides failed to make any decent opportunities for their front men.

The last real chance came from the Midden with a late freekick that Cuthbert held - you got the impression we could have sat there until the start of next season waiting for the first goal. The introduction of McManus for Sheerin late on failed to add any spark to a dull game rounding off a dull season. MoM for me was Forsyth - looked solid enough in defence but to be honest there were few standout candidates. Jackson certainly looked keen and caused some problems but again the link play from midfield wasn't there. Maxie arguably had one of his best games for us and whilst nobody had a disaster there's not many from that side that will be able to play in a league-winning team in the future unless they drastically improve.

Time to sleep for a few months now - the dream starts soon!!!

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