Temple Of Saints - Almost an easy win

Bells League Division One 14/01/2006

Clyde 2 Saints 3 League Table Here

Team : Cuthbert, Stevenson, Goran, Pamela, Rustybitz, James, Henry, Mensing, Owen, Scotland, Sheerinho
Subs : Paston, Dobbie, Jackson, Scrabble, Dyer

Welcome to the dawn of the new era - well that was what we were meant to believe after braving the Arctic conditions of Cumbernauld to get to Broadwood and see if Saints could at least salvage some pride from this season. After a festive season no amount of alcohol will let us forget and last week's surrender to the millionaires of Gretna (Christ we gave the millionaires of Monaco a harder bloody game a few years ago), we faced up to the cup heroes from the 3rd round in Graham Roberts Clyde side who had taken TFOE to the cleaners. As it was we deserved the win but had to work bloody hard for it and I'm afraid that for some of those who were thought to be on their last chance, did little to improve their Saints career possibilities. Having said that, some of the referee's decisions were baffling to say the least with cards dished out to blue shirts willy-nilly while the likes of Malone and Brighton escaped any punishment despite continual dissent.

After his comments following the cup defeat the main focus was on seeing who in the Saints lineup was for the chop or if Owen was going to bottle out of the drastic surgery the side requires. Simon Mensing's return from his latest suspension gave the manager an option though and he replaced Fozzy in midfield with Owen selecting himself ahead of Jackson who dropped to the bench. The big change was in the formation with 3-5-2 the order of the day with Pamela joining Rusty and James at the back.

Saints started poorly with Ryan forced to concede a first minute corner. The Cat easily dealt with it though. Two minutes later and Owen tried to set up Jason who was a tad too slow - that earned him a bollocking from Owen who wasn't slow in letting the likes of Henry and Ryan know what he thought of their play. A minute later Scotland managed a good cross but not for the first time there wasn't a blue shirt in the box. There was some good play from Owen, Henry, Ryan and Jason in the 7th minute but again we failed to make the room for a clear shot.

Clyde's first opportunity came in the 10th minute from a quick break with a dangerous cross headed clear by Anderson. We then broke up the park through Goran the Rock but again there was no support from a static central midfield trio. but we came close to opening the scoring in the 12th minute with a Sheerinho cross from the left finding Ryan coming in unmarked at the back post But his rushed volley went over the bar. Stevenson turned provider three minutes later with a good cross from the right but Henry's header was well wide. A minute later Ryan was fouled on the wings. Sheerinho's freekick found Owen in the box but his downward header was held by the keeper. Clyde were still threatening especially at corners and thanks to some deep defending there were plenty of them. We were confidently clearing them but as usual there wasn't a blue shirt up the park making it harder to ease the pressure on the defence. Even the Cat couldn't escape criticism after missing the ball completely at a 23rd minute corner (after Scotland lost possession originally to concede it) - but luckily the cross was missed by the rest and the danger was eventually cleared.

The game was settling into a midfield battle with chances at a premium. Brighton hit another shot well over and James saw a header saved at the other end after Jason forced a corner. Saints were making the more clearcut chances as the half wore on. Just after the half-hour mark, a long ball from Owen found Jason but his angled drive was held. And we came closer four minutes later when after some good build-up play, the ball fell to Sheerin but while the Wizard's shot had the keeper beat, the ball came back off the bottom of the post.

But the opening goal wasn't long in coming and we finally broke the deadlock in the 39th minute. A freekick was played into the box where Owen headed the ball down for Jason who was felled. The referee waived away the claims for a penalty and Ryan took the ball before he too was scythed down. This time it was an absolute stonewaller and Brian Winter pointed to the spot. Sheerinho stepped up and made no mistake to put us in the lead.

And then it got better three minutes later when a beautiful through ball from Coyle found Scotland who ran half the length of the park before cutting inside his marker, running into the box and sticking the ball through the keeper's legs to double our lead. Just yer typical run-of-the-mill subdued Scotland special.

After the break, we started brightly with a long ball from the solid Mensing finding Jason on the right wing but his cross for Henry was just intercepted. But the pressure continued and after Scotland won a corner five minutes into the half (cue another Eddie Malone whinge), Sheerinho's cross to the near post was met by Kevin James for a typical header into the back of the net.

Three-nil up and we should have been cruising. Clyde hit back three minutes later after a double substitution. Malone was tackled by Sheerinho and went to ground again. From the freekick Stevenson conceded a corner and that was played out to the edge of the box where a long-range effort was deflected by sub Miller past the Cat into the net. There was perhaps just a slight hint of the beginning of a fleeting moment of nervousness from the Saints support at this time.

Of course it wasn't helped by seeing some of the discipline go from the side with Mensing picking up the first booking of the game for a foul on Malone - perhaps deserved but when you saw some of the challenges that went in on Scotland and Stevenson throughout the game the referee's consistency has to be questioned again. Saints pressed back and from a Coyle break Scotland fired a good cross in for Henry but he miskicked his shot and it didn't trouble the keeper. Back at the other end James conceded corner number 1820 of the game and from it the Cat made a poor punch clearance but luckily got back on his line to hold the eventual shot. Mensing had a shot at the other end go out for a corner but just after the hour mark poor, poor defending let Clyde back into the game. Henry was caught in the middle and when the ball was played to the right wing he was nowhere. The cross into the box was half-cleared initially and despite several attempts the ball ended up with Brighton on the edge of the 6 yard box and he hit a cracking overhead shot past the Cat into the corner of the net. The fleeting moment of nervousness in the away stand became full blown deja-vu panic.

We kept on trying to get back into the game but looked more and more nervous with the first touch of the midfield trio not helping matters as they continued to lose the ball. Andy Jackson replaced Owen in the 67th minute but the danger was at our end a minute later when James was slow to get back to a Clyde ball and the Cat was forced to come out of his box to half-clear the danger. Up front for all our pressure we were struggling to make the room for a clear shot and it was Clyde that came close again 20 minutes from time after Stanic was beaten on the wing and McGregor was unmarked in the box - his header went wide though. For Saints, Scotland created our best chance three minutes later with a brilliant run on goal. He rounded two defenders and the keeper before firing in an angled shot that ended up being headed off the line.

Stanic limped off with 15 minutes to go to be replaced by Willie Dyer although there was more controversy as the Saints player went off and was shoved by Malone - not that the referee took any action. The action was non-stop on the park though and in the 77th minute a cutback from the right found Brighton in space in the box but his curving shot thankfully went wide of the goal. A minute later the midfield were caught out again with a Pamela pass inside finding Henry and Sheerin both napping and it took a James challenge to clear the danger. Back up the park and a good run from Dyer on the left ended up in an excellent cross that was missed in the box by both Henry and Jackson with the keeper nowhere. By now the referee was infuriating the fans and when Brighton threw the ball away a couple of minutes later the lack of a card in his direction showed how poor he was. Clyde were throwing everything at us now and James and Anderson conceded stupid freekicks on the edge of the box (Pamela getting a booking for his trouble), but both set pieces went over the bar.

Scrabble replaced Ryan for the last five minutes or so. Two minutes from time there was more controversy when a break by Scotland on a Jackson pass saw him get to the corner flag where he came in for some hefty attention from some Clyde players. Despite keeping the ball there the referee ruled against him and booked him into the bargain - one of those days. Injury time seemed to last an age (the longest five minutes I've known at a game for a long time) although by this time Saints were back in control for the most part with some solid passing and Scotland using his pace to keep the ball at the corner flag (including a series of three short corners). And in the end we almost got a fourth when Jackson broke into the box but saw his shot put out for a corner.

The final whistle was met with a mixture of relief and cheers and the players for once deserved the applause. Certainly there are still some weak areas in terms of skill (Henry and Sheerin's first touch was poor and Scotland needed a shout from the gaffer at times) but there was no faulting the effort that was put in today against a confident strong Clyde side. MoM is a difficult one for a change with Mensing, Coyle, Stanic and Rusty all solid but for his cheeky goal and the almost-2nd it has to go to Scotland. We still need a midfielder and I'm not totally convinced that 3-5-2 is the way to go but it certainly worked today.

Can do without letting the opposition back into the game though.....next time lets leave it at 3-0???

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