Temple Of Saints - Saints go Soft

Bells League Division One 26/11/2005

Saints 1 Stranraer 1 League Table Here

Team : Cuthbert, Pamela, Goran, Stevenson, Rustybitz, James, Sheerinho, Sheridan, Milne, Scotland, Coyle
Subs : Paston, McCann, Mensing, Hannah, Doris

This game marked the start of a trio of matches against the bottom three sides in the division. And. Although Stranraer have shown themselves to be a decent team, a combination of home advantage and full-time training in theory was going to be enough to see us through. On the minus side however Saints haven't exactly been the most consistent of football teams this year and there were still plenty of nerves prior to kick-off. But sitting after the game, it's plain that this Saints side is still missing the killer instinct that makes the difference between mid-table inconsistency and title contenders. Too many players lacked the urgency or fight for this game and somehow the movement and gelling that makes a team has vanished from the current side. If you look at chances or possession statistics we probably earned a win but the game was a different story and the indifference shown in the approach tells it's own tale - as did the boos from the home fans at the final whistle.

Savo was the main worry pre-match with the hamstring strain that curtailed his involvement against Clyde casting doubts over his availability for this one. But with Le Freak and Rustybitz both succumbing to plague during the week, Henry struggling with an ankle injury and Dobbie picking up one of these contagious hamstring injuries in training, Oweny didn't have his troubles to seek. After plenty of pre-match deliberations though they were all passed fit except for Dobbie, but the manager elected to start himself as we went for 3 up front. And Stephen Doris was handed a sub's jersey.

From the start, Saints dominated the first half but for all the pressure there was precious little to entertain the fans, with a lack of movement off the ball the biggest bugbear. Pamela tried a long-range shot in the second minute but it was just wide and didn't trouble Corr in the away goal. Stranraer didn't create anything until the 5th minute when they won a corner off Goran - the Cat easily held it.

There were some pluses in the opening stages with Pamela and Ryan Stevenson causing problems on the right. It was Ryan that tried to get on the scoresheet in the 12th minute with a long ball which found Owen who knocked the ball down for Ryan but his shot was blocked. Stevenson was in action again a minute later with a good run ending in a cutback to Sheerin but his drive was held - giving Corr another chance to indulge in the sort of timewasting not seen since Gordon Marshall last "graced" the sacred turf. Jason had had a quiet start and took a while to get going but he had a good effort in the 14th minute after running practically the length of the pitch, but his shot was held infuriating Sheerinho who was unmarked on the left.

Scotland saw a decent cross headed clear a minute later then Savo was brought down on the edge of the box, but Sheerin's freekick was blocked by the wall. James picked up the first booking of the game for a late tackle during a rare break from Stranraer but it wasn't a dirty game. We kept up the pressure and a long James header in the 27th minute found Savo who turned well to set up Stevenson but his shot went wide. Five minutes later Goran and Sheerinho combined well to get a good cross in but Rustybitz close-range shot was blocked. We managed to force a couple of corners with the best ending in an Owen knockdown for Ryan Stevenson but his angled shot was held. We were dominating the play now although the timewasting in the Stranraer defence (mainly courtesy of Corr) wasn't helping the frustrations among the home fans. Scotland set up Ryan for another chance that went wide.

But in the spirit of the festive season it was soon time for Saints to dish out the early Xmas present. Sheridan conceded a freekick on the wing. The ball was played in where it was headed on and with James and Rustybitz both failing to clear the danger, Hamilton sneaked in to stick it into the net. Not what we wanted to see. Saints tried to hit back quickly but we only managed one real effort before the break with a long Pamela ball into the box finding Rustybitz but his looping header was held on the line.

I assume Owen gave the players a bollocking at the interval (hopefully including his own good self after an ineffectual performance up front). If he did, it didn't have much of an effect. We did start on the attack again and in the 49th minute Sheerin played in a cross that Pamela met at the back post but his header went behind. But our general play was still off the pace and we were struggling against a Stranraer side that sat with all eleven camped in their own half. It was allowing both Pamela and Stanic to get forward more but the front men were still letting us down.

Cuthbert had very little to do with a punch to clear a corner the only time he was called into action. But we weren't creating many chances either despite winning plenty of corners, with a 64th minute cross from Sheerin tipped clear by the keeper our best opportunity.

Ryan McCann replaced Stevenson in 68 minutes but it made little difference with creative players like Scotland and Savo unable or unwilling to do much running. Rustybitz headed a Dazza freekick wide and James had a header from a corner that went just the wrong side of the post. With time running out Mensing replaced Pamela (who had had a decent game) and lasted all of one minute before his first mistake. Saints were well on the attack and a freekick 12 minutes from time found McCann and his cross was half-volleyed by Owen but easily blocked leaving the Saints manager claiming he was impeded. That was the last action for Owen and he went off for the last 10 minutes with Stephen Doris making his debut.

A minute later we finally drew level with a ball into the box finding James. He headed the ball down and Doris in the 6 yard box missed it but Sheerinho was there at the post to blast it across past Corr.

After that it was all Saints with Kevin James moving up front as we chased the winner. A Sheridan freekick was headed goalwards by James but ruled offside. Then a Scotland cross led to a scramble in the box with both James and Doris seeing shots blocked. Two minutes from time we had our best chance with a Mensing cross from the right finding Savo but his header was well saved by Corr with Doris just missing the rebound. McCann shot wide and Doris almost scored from a cross but in the end despite the ref managing to play a decent length of injury time (that'll teach Corr for timewasting), a point was all we got. Cue the boos.

MoM for me was close with Savo putting in a lot of effort and the defence looking solid but Goran gets my vote for a solid attack-minded performance.

It would be nice to see that reflected by some of his teammates.

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