Saints 1 Paisley Junkies 2 League Table Here
Team : Cuthbert, Stevenson, Stanic, Mensing, Campbell,
James, McCann, Sheridan, Milne, Dobbie, Janczyk
Subs : Hutton, Coyle, Sheerin, Peaso, Henry
This was always going to be a tough match with the Midden having a reasonable record at McDiarmid in recent seasons and being tipped as one of our main rivals this season. Added to that we had the spice of today's match being the first in a double-header and the small matter of the frequency of red cards during these encounters and we were set for a fun afternoon. Oh aye and just to add the wee bit of spice everyone's favourite man in the middle, Charlie "3 Reds" Richmond was in charge of the whole shooting match. In the end though we blew it thanks to two very soft goals although Richmond ensured he won't be on many Saints fans Xmas card list after failing to red card Hinchcliffe when he brought down McCann in the box. We've got plenty of other worries though with the defence looking slow in the warm conditions and Cuthbert at fault for the eventual winner.
Mark Campbell was eligible for selection after serving his time in the Naughty Boys Corner last weekend. And with Dazza recovering from his usual knee knock, it meant we were again pretty much at full strength. So no place for Pamela Anderson and despite the pre-match rumour of Mark Paston appearing as a trialist on the bench, Blair Hutton got the nod. Meanwhile the Paisley mob had to do without Kirk the Thug who apparently had a sceptic toe - well so we were all led to believe but leaving the germ-infested tip that is Paisley led to a miraculous recovery and he started for the junkies. No place for Maxie anywhere in their lineup though.
The match started in bright sunshine in front of a good Saints crowd. And we got off to an excellent start with a lovely second minute move which saw McCann and Dobbie press. The ball broke to Dazza who played a neat chip past the Paisley defence for Savo to run onto but his angled shot was well blocked. A minute later a Dobbie freekick in from the left wing was well held by Hinchcliffe. Next up was a real rarity. Savo forced a corner and the ball came out to Captain Kev at the far post who went for a shot that was blocked by a red shirt. Saints looked well up for the game this time.
It wasn't until the tenth minute that Midden had a shot. Savo went in on Billy Mehmet with his feet above ankle height conceding a freekick, but the Cat easily held the shot. At the other end, Dobbie and McCann linked well to release Stanic who won a corner - James' header missed the goal. The game was being played at a pretty hectic pace. The first signs of danger for Saints came in the 16th minute with a Sheridan passback catching the defence napping with Campbell and Cuthbert struggling to clear their lines. Two minutes later we made a decent chance with a great through ball from Scrabble to Savo who linked with Dobbie. Another one-two saw Dobbie in the box but his shot went wide.
St. Midden tried to hit back with Murray beating off challenges from Goran and Mensing but he pulled his shot wide. Saints had a couple of runs break down but with St. Midden coming back into the game, they were next to threaten in the 25th minute with a floating freekick which Broadfoot headed wide. Two minutes later and they came even closer - we failed to clear our lines properly and Kean fired in a close-range shot that Cuthbert did brilliantly to block for a corner. The danger wasn't over and from the corner kick Stanic failed to clear his lines and the shot came back off the underside of the bar. Even then we hadn't learnt our lesson and another cross found James and Cuthbert in a mix- up.
Saints were pretty sloppy with the midfield failing to close down the opposition and too many passes not finding their man. Savo had a shot blocked and then Dobbie set up Scrabble who got wide and cut the ball back across the goal only for it to be missed by everyone. Mark Campbell was next in the thick of it with a run and pass to Savo but his chip was easily held by the keeper. The half was rounded off by another couple of attacks against Saints, the first after we wasted a corner and the other finishing with a Kean shot going wide. Cuthbert was being put under unnecessary pressure from his defence - too often he was being given casual passbacks to clear. But that was symptomatic of too much of our play today, a fact not lost on Oweny having a fit at the touchline.
Saints began the second-half on the attack and within a couple of minutes Dobbie saw a shot blocked as Midden defended well. At the other end Millen headed a freekick wide. Saints almost took the lead after a 50th-minute freekick from the right found Campbell at the back post. He headed the ball in but somehow Hinchcliffe blocked the ball and it seemed to come back off the underside of the bar as far as Kevin James who proceeded to totally miss the ball. Scrabble's freekick a minute later found Campbell who headed the ball down to Savo whose shot went wide. Dazza saw a long-range shot go over and then after Stanic was the victim of some high feet on the left, Scrabble's freekick rounded the wall and found Dobbie but his flick on went wide of target.
Peaso replaced Dobbie in 58 minutes and within 60 seconds we were behind. An absolutely atrocious suicidal square ball across the defence from Mensing was intercepted by McGinty, just on for Mehmet. He broke through past a slow Kevin James. Cuthbert did brilliantly to come out and block the shot one-on-one but the rebound fell to Kean in for a simple finish with Mensing failing to get back. Sucker punch time and it felt just like last season.
But we tried to get back into the game and Potter picked up an injury trying to scythe down McCann on a break. We drew level in the 65th minute after a brilliant through ball from Peaso found McCann. He beat the defence and ran into the box where he was hauled down by Hinchcliffe. Richmond, who was a fair bit behind play didn't hesitate in pointing to the spot but managed to enrage the home fans when the card for the keeper was only yellow, when it looked like a straight red for preventing a goalscoring opportunity. Peaso beat Stanic to take the spot-kick and blasted the ball into the net.
Game on and the match turned into a cracker. Peaso had a couple of unfortunate offsides as we chased the winner. Henry replaced McCann as we kept the pressure up with the Midden hitting us on the break. Stevenson had a good run but failed to pick out his man and then with 15 minutes to go we won a corner. Scrabble sent it over and Mensing handled deliberately (and needlessly) in the box picking up a booking. The third sub a few minutes later saw Sheering come on for Scrabble and proceed to vanish completely (sorry but he is Mr Invisible). Play was going end-to-end but the ref wasn't helping matters with some strange decisions such as Broadfoot not ruled to have fouled Henry but two seconds later was deemed to have been fouled when on the receiving end of the same challenge from Sheridan. McGinty broke into the box but was tackled in the area. At the other end Savo had a run and cutback but the ball was cleared before he found Peaso.
Then with 6 minutes to go and thoughts of a point being enough, St Mirren pressed down the right and forced Goran to concede a corner. The ball went over past the back post where it beat James and was headed back into the 6yard area. This time McGowne was given room to reach it and he headed past Cuthbert into the net. Certainly the Cat has to shoulder some of the blame for failing to cut out the cross but the entire defence seemed to have gone to sleep again. Saints chased a winner but with St Midden sitting back and trying to kill the game off we seemed to have run out of steam. Peaso saw an effort blocked and the only real flashpoint came in the final minute when Sheridan was fouled in the middle of the park. The ref ruled against him and booked him for his trouble but Mensing and Van Zanten also squared up - luckily Richmond didn't notice it.
We didn't play that badly overall - two silly mistakes cost us the goals and too often we sat back rather than press the opposition, like we've done so far this season. There were a lot of neat moves that just didn't come off and while we were unlucky to lose to be fair St Mirren didn't deserve to lose either. Defensively though we looked shaky. Certainly Cuthbert will get the flak now and his confidence will no doubt be shaken but he did make plenty of good saves at 0-0 to keep us in the game. Mensing, James and Campbell looked off the pace at times and both wing-backs were caught out for pace. MoM for me was Dazza who at least tried to go forward. McCann and Scrabble weren't too bad and the latter was unfortunate to be replaced by Mr Invisible. Up front it just didn't come off for the strikers.
Still at least it's only three days before we get our revenge!
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| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | Points |
| Scumdee | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 7 |
| Ross County | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 7 |
| Saints | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 6 |
| St Midden | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Stranraer | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Hamilton | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Clyde | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| Brechin City | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Queen of the South | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 1 |
| Airdrie | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
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