Temple Of Saints - Go the Goalie

Bells League Division One 11/03/2006

Ross County 2 Saints 2League Table Here

Team : Glennon, Winter, Goran, Pamela, Rustybitz, James, Sheridan, Hardie, Dobbie, Scotland, Sheerinho
Subs : Cat, Henry, Fozzy, Savo, Stevenson

Report from the Official Saints Site

Saints made just the one change for the match against Ross County with Stephen Dobbie coming back into the starting line-up at the expense of Ryan Stevenson and there was a surprise in the ranks of the substitutes with long-term absentee Steven Milne wearing the number 12 jersey. The Saints squad had headed north on Friday for an overnight stay in Inverness with Manager Owen Coyle hoping that having just a short journey to make on match day would reduce the chances of the dreadful first half performance the team turned in at the same venue in October.

Certainly, today’s opening 45 minutes was better but it was by no means great and the home side had the initiative from an early stage with Matt Glennon having to get involved early, jumping high to clutch a free kick conceded by Jamie Winter who was playing in a right wing back role. A quick, smart move down the right by the home side had Saints in all sorts of bother – McSwegan and Cowie were architects of the move and when the latter’s cross was swung into the box Higgins was just inches away from connecting with his head for what would have been a very good goal. In 19 minutes the home side advanced dangerously again with Glennon producing a good save from Cowie before Kevin Rutkiewicz blocked Higgins’ follow-up effort.

The home side had the upper hand but it wasn’t all one-way and Jamie Winter saw a drive deflected wide for a corner kick, the resultant kick finding Kevin James in space but his header was straight at the keeper. As always, the giant Saints captain was causing the opposition problems at set pieces and he was involved in the goal that gave Saints a 22nd minute lead against the run of play. A Darren Sheridan ball into the box was met by the head of James and in trying to boot the ball away from danger the home side’s Jim Lauchlan managed only to slice the ball into his own net. County keeper Stuart Garden, in attempting to stop the ball from going in, collided with the post and had to be stretchered from the field to be replaced by 17 year old Joe Malin. There was a lengthy delay while the former Celtic youth keeper got himself ready and it upset the flow of the game.

Before the interval there was plenty of endeavour from both sides in a game in which there was a bit of needle and no lack of hefty challenges from both sides – McSwegan, Martin Hardie and Kevin Rutkiewicz were all yellow carded in the first half. In terms of goalscoring chances, Stephen Dobbie had the best one for Saints when he latched onto a James knock-down only to see his goal-bound effort strike Martin Hardie and deflect for a goal kick, while at the other end John Rankin slid a low effort just wide of Glennon’s right-hand post with the Saints keeper beaten.

There was plenty of talking points during the second half of the match with the first of those coming in 55 minutes when Saints had a goal disallowed. A Darren Sheridan free kick was knocked on by James to Jason Scotland who saw his effort on goal blocked by former Saint David Cowan and when the corner kick came in, Kevin Rutkiewicz headed high into the net but the goal was disallowed. Saints had started the second half much brighter and had the upper hand and in 64 minutes they should have had the opportunity to increase their lead from the penalty spot when referee Steve Conroy failed to spot a clear handball in the home penalty box.

Goran Stanic was next to be booked and in the 69th minute things started to drift the home side’s way. First Kevin James pulled up at the side of the pitch with what looked like a hamstring problem and with defending to be done, Kevin Fotheringham was hastily introduced to the fray. However when the game re-started and the ball was swung into the box it eventually fell to Sean Higgins who fired it high into the net from close range. County had their tails up now and Glennon had to produce a good stop from Cowie.

Saints made a double substitution in 72 minutes when Steven Milne and Ryan Stevenson were introduced for Stephen Dobbie and Jamie Winter respectively and just moments later there was more frustration when Rutkiwicz again had the ball in the net only to find it disallowed – the offside flag certainly gave a clearer indication as to why it was chalked off than the big defender’s first disallowed goal. Kevin McKinlay should have put County ahead with a header but from an unmarked position he sent the ball wide of goal. However, the home side taking the lead was only delayed when, in 83 minutes, substitute Winters scored from the spot after the referee spotted Martin Hardie pulling back a County player. The award sparked a mass brawl at the eighteen-yard line the outcome of which was Paul Sheerin being yellow carded. Saints had to do something to get back on level terms and Martin Hardie moved to a more advanced role to add to the attacking options.

The extra effort paid off – but from a most unexpected source. Saints applied constant pressure in the final five minutes and it took all manner of blocks and deflections to stop the ball from beating the young County goalkeeper including a last-ditch one from Lauchlan to thwart Steven Anderson. Two minutes remained when goalkeeper Matt Glennon came up for the latest in a procession of corner kicks and although nothing came of it initially, he remained up front for a second corner which eventually fell to him and he took one touch to control the ball with his body before lashing it into the back of the net. It was a great end to what proved to be quite an exciting game of football.

It’s eight league games without defeat for Saints now but time will tell if this was one draw too many on a day when St Mirren snatched a late winner to go eight points clear of us. Manager Owen Coyle will no doubt be wondering why his charges didn’t ask more questions of the home side’s rookie goalkeeper who had virtually nothing to do until he was beaten by his opposite number.

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