Temple Of Saints - Saints Grind it out

Bells League Division One 10/12/2005

Saints 2 QoS 1 League Table Here

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

After a good win last weekend, this was set to be the last of the supposedly "easy" sequence of matches against the teams propping up the division before Saints entered a tough festive fixture list. With Jobbie McCall in charge at Palmerston, things hadn't improved much for the visitors and they came to Perth fresh from an utter horsing against Airdrie. And if our finishing had been a bit more clinical they might have suffered a similar fate. As it was though we were cruising after the first goal and never looked in any real danger even after Wood's spectacular late consolation for the visitors. Saints were never brilliant but certainly did more than enough to warrant the three points.

Teamwise, the injury list was improving but there was still room for Oweny to tinker with things. Goran managed to train this week and Oor Wullie Dyer was replaced by the Macedonian. Up front it was Savo and soon-to-be Destroyer Of The English Jason Scotland. For Queen's, Brian McLaughlin was missing (probably a prior engagement as Dopey in the Dumfries Panto).

From the start, Saints were forced to take the game to a Queen's side intent on sticking eleven men behind the ball. Despite their defensive mentality, we almost took the lead in the first minute after winning a corner. From it, Rustybitz saw his header cleared but the ball spun out to Henry on the left only for his shot to be blocked by Scott. We kept the pressure up with Ryan and Jason both making good runs but too often we were missing the support or the final ball was lacking (or else the referee decided to spoil things).

Queen's early chances were limited to a break after a loose Rusty pass in the 12th minute but the Cat had no problem dealing with the cross. A minute later and Saints were guilty of standing off Burns and gave him too much room to squeeze off a shot but again the Saints keeper easily dealt with it. Mind you, we weren't exactly covering ourselves in glory with chances at a premium. Sheridan did get onto the end of a good move involving Ryan and Scotland but his long-range shot went well-wide. Then a long ball from defence found Savo going through on goal but Scott came out to clear although referee Richmond ruled for an imaginary foul on the goalie.

But we finally broke the deadlock in the 20th minute. Scotland found Henry with a cross but his attempt was blocked for a corner. Dazza whipped the corner in and found an unmarked Kevin James getting down for a brave diving header. That was blocked (with the skipper picking up a head knock in the process) on the line, but Jason was there to stab the rebound home. The downside of the goal was having to lose James as he got bandaged up, leaving us down to ten men for 5 or 6 minutes.

Having said that, we still threatened the away goal although Paton saw one shot go wide of goal. But for Saints, one move in the 24th minute deserved to end in a goal. From the right wing at the halfway line, Scotland won the ball then went on the sort of mazy run that would do Ronaldinho proud. He beat umpteen challenges en route to the Queen's penalty area with a couple of nutmegs into the bargain. Once there we expected a cracking shot but instead he elected to slip the ball to the left where the Wizard of the Wing appeared as if by magic - pity there wasn't anything magical about his finish as Sheerinho's angled shot went just wide of the other post. Scotland was in the thick of it a couple of minutes later when he was clattered from behind. Dazza took the freekick but put it just wide.

But Queen's began to get back into the game and put the Saints defence under a bit of pressure although Rustybitz and James always looked comfortable on the ball. Saints made some chances though with James sticking a header from a Dazza corner. Then Scotland sent a long-range freekick miles wide after Savo was fouled (although the disappointment in that was balanced by seeing Lovell booked for kicking the ball away). The last chance of the half fell to Savo after Stevenson made a great run down the right. He sent in a brilliant cross which found Savo in the box but his first-time volley was blocked. Still when the half-time whistle went, there weren't many disgruntled fans in the home stands.

Le Freak didn't reappear after the break though with Pamela coming on as sub and moving to right-back allowing Mensing to shift to the middle. The second period got off to a lively start with Sheridan and Burns clashing after a heavy tackle two minutes into the half. For once Richmond kept the cards in the pocket despite Lyle becoming involved in the sort of war of words that neither side seemed to want to end. The game quietened down a bit with Queen's struggling to break us down but Saints against the wind finding it difficult to make any headway. We should have gone two up in the 56th minute when Henry went on an excellent run into the box. He squared the ball to Scotland but for some reason Jason went for the pass again instead of the shot and the ball to Savo was cleared.

At the other end Queen's broke into the Saints box but Mensing made a good tackle in the six-yard box before clearing the danger. McCann replaced the ineffective Stevenson on the hour mark as Owen looked to bolster the attack. We did go further ahead four minutes later but it only really involved one man. A long Pamela clearance found Savo inside the Queen's defence and he beat the offside trap, sprinted into the box and from ten yards out slipped the ball past the onrushing Scott in as cool a finish as you're likely to see all season. No more than his work and play had deserved all afternoon either. Queen's went for broke with Lyle removed and Wood pushed up front for the last twenty minutes.

Saints were chasing a third goal but the conditions on the pitch were becoming slippier and we still lacked the final ball at times. Sheerin and Stanic both had good runs with the latter setting up Savo in the box in the 73rd minute when we all expected another rocket of a shot. Savo's effort was well blocked by the keeper though. Scotland was replaced by Dobbie for the last 15 minutes but we made little in the way of clear cut chances, although we had most of the play. For Queen's Paton saw a shot go wide and Sheridan had to look sharp to clear a freekick seven minutes from time. The impressive Gibson tried his luck in the 90th minute but Cat made a good save before a minute later Wood his an amazing shot from fully 25 yards out into the back of the net that neither the defence or keeper could do anything about. Cue loads of injury time but Saints played it cool and kept the points.

MoM had to be Scotland for his goal and the run in the first half although the defence, Dazza, Savo and Sheerinho all played well. We still lacked that conviction at times but I don't think you'd find a Saints fan who wouldn't have taken this scoreline before the game.

Now the hype really begins...

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