Temple Of Saints - Sheerinhio!!!!

Bells League Division One 22/10/2005

QoS 1 Saints 3 League Table Here

Team : Cuthbert, Mensing, Goran, Stevenson, Rustybitz, James, Henry, Sheridan, Milne, Scotland, Sheerin
Subs : Paston, Oweny, Dobbie, McCann, Pamela

Another away game and another long trip west for Saints. The second quarter of the season got underway today with Saints hoping for a repeat of the convincing win over the Doonhamers for the league opener (God that seems so long ago!!!). But last weekend's win saw us back on track though Queens victory over Airdrie meant they were also showing some signs of form. There was no doubt though that we needed the three points - this is the sort of game that championship contenders battle for the win. In the end though we had nothing to worry about with, apart from a short spell after the break, as convincing a performance as we've seen this season. Only Scott in the home goal prevented Saints from scoring several more while the Cat had very little to do for the whole game. And while it was a good team performance there were plenty of outstanding individual shows as well and a real determination in the Saints play.

Goran Stanic was the only major doubt before the game (Keyring, Fozzy, SinBin and Mullet Patterson all ruled out beforehand). He hardly trained all week after picking up a calf strain last weekend and Scrabble had been added to the squad as a precaution. As it was, Goran played with the only change being Henry starting in place of Dobbie.

We started with an uncharacteristic James mistake with a mishit header in the second minute that let Queen's in for a shot that went well over Cuthbert's bar. But two minutes later some good pressure saw Ryan's cross go out for a corner although there was a strong suspicion of holding on Savo. The corner found Sheerin but his shot was blocked for a second corner. This time Dazza's effort found the head of Le Freak and his header fell for Savo at the post and he volleyed the ball home.

Saints kept the pressure on. We had another corner cleared and then Henry set up Scotland who slipped the ball to Savo. His run into the box but his angled shot was tipped wide by the keeper. Kevin James headed the resulting corner over the bar. A minute later Ryan played in a cross for Sheerin but his shot went wide. Scotland was next to try his luck after Savo set him up but he was well tackled in the area. Then a Stevenson cutback found Henry who tried a chip that was cleared off a crowded goalline.

Queen's made an early change with McNiven replacing O'Neil up front in 15 minutes. But Saints were still enjoying the majority of the play. Sheerin, Dazza and Savo were all involved in some nice one-touch passing to set up Scotland only for his run to be chalked off for a harsh offside. Then in the 19th minute Savo was fouled on the edge of the area. Dazza's freekick rounded the wall but was saved as it headed for the top corner.

But it didn't all go our way and in the 23rd minute Queen of the South broke down the right unchallenged before firing a low cross across the goalmouth which was met at the far post by Brian the Dwarf (obviously creeping in under the radar!) whose low shot was squeezed in under Mensing and past the Cat to draw level. That state of affairs only lasted a couple of minutes though. James met a corner only for his header to be cleared off the line but then Stanic had a run into the box terminated with a challenge even referee Brian Winter couldn't ignore. He pointed to the spot and Paul Sheerin, brave warrior that he is these days, stepped up and blasted the spot kick into the back of the net. As classy a finish as you'll see all season and we fully deserved the lead.

The game unfortunately turned a bit scrappier after that. Kevin James became the first player to go into the referee's book for a non-foul in the 28th minute and the noisy away support didn't care too much for the way Bowey was making his own challenges although he was at least warned by the referee several times. Back on the park Goran won a corner in the 33rd minute and from that the home defence had another panicky clearance. Two minutes later we had the ball in the net again. Stevenson, who had another good game on the right flank, sent a cross in that Scotland headed on to Savo who prodded the ball home only to be ruled against for offside. The half ended with shots from Scotland and Sheridan being blocked in the box. While the Doonhamers were packing their area, Saints were just lacking that final ball.

Savo started the second half well setting up Scotland with a neat ball into his path, but Jason hit a weak shot. A minute later Saints made their first substitution with McCann replacing John Henry who had put in a decent shift. Sheerin had a shot cleared but Queen's weren't out of it by any means and in the 54th minute a poor Mensing clearance found Bowey. He squared the ball to the Midget, who had a run and shot that went just wide of the Cat's right-hand post. Savo was warned by the referee after clashing with the Queen's keeper as he went for a loose ball, while Bowey was lucky to get off with a similar punishment for a foul on McCann that was about as clean as your average Lochee council house. Dazza played the freekick high into the box for Le Freak who was blatantly shoved off the ball. The referee waived away the protests although Sheerin earned a booking for his complaint.

Queen's had one good break but the final shot went wide of the goal, as Saints began to dominate the play once more with Oweny doing his best Scouser "calm down, calm down" impression. The constant rain and heavy pitch was frustrating Saints but McCann came closest to increasing our lead in the 64th minute when he latched onto a neat Savo flick, but his shot went wide. That was followed by Scotland ending a good run with a shot well saved.

We did finally kill the game off in the 66th minute with another great goal. Scotland spread the ball out to the left wing as Saints broke. He found Sheerin who went on a great run through on goal. With just the keeper to beat he played a great chip which beat Scott but came back off the bar. That didn't deter oor Casper though and quicker than you can change managers at Swinecastle, he headed the rebound past a stranded defender on the goalline. Three-one up and by God we were enjoying it!! And with Sheerin on a hat-trick (!), the miracle almost happened four minutes later. Scotland again turned provider for Savo to make a run down the right and his cross was aimed at the onrushing Sheerin at the far post - but this time it was back to his "old" self as he missed the ball completely.

The game still showed it's nasty side with a late challenge by Stanic on the Queens no 16 earning the Saints player a yellow card - mind you how his opponent escaped with only a warning for raising his hands the way he did just sums up our luck with referees lately. Saints were enjoying the pressure though and a couple of minutes later we again broke through with Scotland and Savo only covered by one defender. Scotland made the run though and was unlucky to see his low drive again well saved. Savo's turn was next with 15 minutes to go and he beat three defenders in the box before his shot was blocked by the keeper. Queens weren't totally out of it but Bowey's effort 13 minutes from time despite beating the Cat clipped the crossbar and went over.

Saints were chasing that fourth goal with Scotland slipping the ball to Savo who pulled his shot wide. Then Scotland saw one effort saved and another end in a corner. He was replaced for the last five minutes by Dobie who won a freekick almost straight away, from which we won a corner. That was sent into the crowded box again and somehow from the typical stramash that followed the ball was cleared off the line. Oweny replaced Savo for the last few minutes and despite his best efforts in setting up Sheerin in the last minute, Casper managed to run his shot wide and ended up sending the ball straight to the keeper. The reaction of the players to the support at the end of the match summed it up - they know how good a win this was.

Despite some slight dodginess at times (Mensing and Scotland both let their standards slip) nobody had a poor game but it was the team performance that mattered overall. We chased down the ball, made the tackles and showed good awareness and movement off the ball. Despite that there were some standouts with Stevenson, Dazza and Savo all excellent. But it has to be Sheerin for MoM for a good penalty and a cracking finish for the third goal. It's definitely looking up...

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