Temple Of Saints - Xmas Cracker

Bells League Division One 17/12/2005

St Midden 0 Saints 0 League Table Here

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

If ever there was a game that had "must-win" (or at least "dinnae lose") written all over it it was today's trip to Love St. Against a side who have shown the consistency and form to be seven points in front of Saints going into today's game, we were up against it despite the Midden's slip up last weekend. The home side hadn't lost at their tip for the whole of 2005 in the league and conceding about as many goals as Rangers have managed points in the last couple of months. But they did slip up at Dense Park last weekend in spectacular style and there was a bit of pressure on them - not that it prevented Scotsport sending the camcorder elsewhere for their match of the day. In the end we had to settle for a point in a cracking match with both defences in excellent form and just for a change there were no red cards (although the home neds who threw stuff at Jason in the second half will no doubt merit a mention in the referee's report). And while it was a good performance from Saints there is still plenty of room for improvement with the midfield especially needing to show more form.

For Saints, we (for a change) had no new injury worries with only Kevin James sporting his kamikaze headband. But it meant an unchanged lineup on the park and on the bench. The Saints players wore black armbands in memory of arguably one of the few real heroes Saints had in Drew Rutherford, who sadly passed away this week. The home side were at full strength - unfortunately for us Reilly was left on the bench while the lack of Peaso in the Saints side allowed 324 yr old Andy Millen to make his 800th league appearance.

The game started in customary pre-Xmas conditions (i.e. Bloody baltic), but didn't take long in hotting up with Kevin McGowne booked within the first thirty seconds for bringing Sheerinho down. Dazza took the freekick as usual, finding Ryan, but he headed well wide of target. We were on the attack from the start but didn't manage to create any real chances. Savo had a neat turn to get into box in the 2nd minute but he was crowded out. The Saints striker was on the receiving end of another Midden challenge four minutes later. Dazza's freekick went out for a corner that he then wasted. Another wasted corner a couple of minutes later did create our first real shot. The ball was cleared out for a quickly-taken throw-in which found Jason. He went on a quick run before firing a shot over the bar from the edge of the box.

Next up was another freekick from Sheridan which almost reached an unmarked James in the box but the keeper managed to beat him to it. The game was being played at a hectic pace and the Midden began to threaten in the 11th minute with a cross that eventually broke to Kean but the Cat held his drive well. After another couple of Saints corners were wasted the Saints defence was found wanting in the 17th minute and a poor clearance from the defence found Adam but his volley went well over the bar. Back up the other end, Ryan forced a corner and from it Rustybitz had a shot blocked.

Millen celebrated his 800th game by picking up a well-deserved booking for a two-footed challenge on John Henry. But the home side kept up the pressure. Cuthbert tipped a 21st minute Adam shot over the bar and then made a brilliant double save a couple of minutes later from another Midden attack. Next up was a break from Kean but the Cat made another great save. Most of the chances were falling to the Midden with Lappin getting the better of Mensing with the Saints defender looking well off the pace. Adam had another dangerous shot courtesy of a Lappin cutback but sent his effort over the bar. That was enough to set Gus off on another rant that earned him a warning from the referee.

Saints best chance came after half an hour from a Rustybitz freekick. James headed the ball down in the box where Henry fired a shot straight at Smith. The challenges were going in thick and fast with Kean coming off worst after a bad challenge on James and then Broadfoot picked up a booking for a stupid foul on Scotland.

Sutton fouled Stanic seven minutes from the break. No foul was awarded but his final shot went wide of goal. Van Zanten tried his luck next from the edge of the box but the Cat held it. And in the 42nd minute a rare James mistake let Sutton through one-on-one but Cuthbert came out to make a fantastic block to prevent a certain goal. And the keeper was in action again just after that to tip a Midden cross cum shot over the bar, with Mensing picking up a calf injury in the process. At least the half finished a bit more brightly for us with a good linking move from Savo and Jason finishing with the latter ruled just offside when he broke through on goal.

The pace was kept up after the break. There were no changes at the interval although Pamela was out warming up obviously with one eye on Mensing. As it was we had a cracking chance to open the scoring within a couple of minutes of the restart. Dazza sent a brilliant through ball to Scotland out on the right wing who controlled it well before sending it into Savo but he sclaffed his shot wide. St Midden broke up the park and with Mensing well out of position Lappin had plenty of room to cross the ball in but the Cat made another good block with his feet. The shots were raining in without causing any real problems and he dealt with a Lappin volley and a shot from a freekick. Saints next attack almost broke the deadlock with a good passing move (which were at a premium today) involving Stevenson and Savo, setting up Jason who fired in a low angled drive that Smith got down to tip the ball wide. Another break was ended when Potter brought down Jason. The freekick floated into the box and found Savo but his shot was blocked.

Mensing limped off in the 57th minute to be replaced by Pamela on the right. The game was a good end-to-end affair although the Saints midfield was sitting too deep and too many players like Henry and Sheerin were off their game. That meant we were under a bit of pressure although the Cat dealt comfortably with most of it and both James and Rustybitz were having decent games. We were still creating chances with Scotland the most dangerous player and he set up Ryan on the hour mark with a cutback but his shot went straight to the keeper. Adam had a shot at the other end and although the Cat blocked it, Kean should have done better with the follow-up but sent it over the bar.

The next piece of controversy came in 67 minutes when Sutton was down "injured". Saints eventually played the ball to a Midden defender who hit it out for a throw-in. After a miraculous recovery more suited to Easter than Xmas Sutton was able to carry on but unfortunately for Scotland who was set to take the throw-in he was in front of the main Midden Ned stand and was hit by a couple of objects from the home support - the sort of charming act that can cause games to boil over and hopefully they'll be punished for it. Ryan McCann replaced Henry for the last 20 minutes with Stevenson moving through the middle. Both teams were going for broke to get what you would expect to be the matchwinner.

Jason was brought down in the box with 15 minutes to go but no foul allowing Savo to see a shot blocked. From the resulting corner (taken again by Dazza to minimal effect), the ball eventually came to McCann but his shot went well wide. Sheridan took a knock 10 minutes from time and earned a booking in the process in what wasn't that dirty a game. St Mirren had a fair bit of pressure but James and Stanic were able to clear the danger. Saints meanwhile were able to create chances with Scotland getting a lot of room breaking down the right wing. Unfortunately these usually ended in corners and I'm afraid to say that Sheridan's efforts were too low and/or weak. McCann picked up a knee knock in injury time but Scrabble was barely on the park before the final whistle went.

It was a good performance from Saints only lacking either a bit of luck in front of goal or a wee bit more creativity from the midfield. Too often we were opting for the long high ball with the wide players rarely used. Still the defence was solid enough with all the back four in excellent form. But for MoM it has to be Cuthbert with one of the best goalkeeping performance he's had in a Saints jersey.

We're still in the hunt.

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