Temple Of Saints - Clinical Finishing

Bells League Division One 21/01/2006

Stranraer 0 Saints 2 League Table Here

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

After last weekend's scrappy win over Clyde, today's game saw us head west to take on a Stranraer side that have proved a lot of their critics wrong this season. However if we still had any vague hopes of keeping in touch with the league leaders, this was another game that we had to take something from. The game was a close one but in the end the better finishing from Saints via a couple of classy goals and some solid defending which ensured a quiet afternoon for the Cat.

For Saints, Darren Sheridan finally made his return from his various suspensions to the first team in the centre of midfield. Ryan Stevenson had picked up a hip injury at Broadwood though and despite passing a fitness test both him and Fozzy had to settle for a place on the bench with Jackson and Dyer unfortunate to drop out completely. For the home side there was no Moore to annoy us due to a ban. From the kick-off, Saints had plenty of pressure on the heavy playing surface. For all that though, there was precious little action to get the travelling support excited. Jason did try a cheeky chip shot to Owen Coyle in the third minute but the gaffer was just too slow to connect. Stranraer managed a rare foray up front a minute later although Hinds was well offside when he began his break. He had room to get a cutback across the goal, but James was there to stick the ball behind for a corner which was easily dealt with.

Jason Scotland seemed to be at the heart of most of our early attacks. A 6th minute nutmeg through the defence found no follow-up and then four minutes later he go onto the end of a good pass from Henry only to be ruled offside. A minute after that, he was on the end of another good pass but his low 20-yard drive was well held by Corr. The next Saints chance came in the 13th minute with a good run from Sheerinho who set up Owen for a run into the box. But instead of cutting the ball back for Sheerin or the unmarked Jason, he elected to go for the shot which Corr tipped wide. The corner was fairly ineffective ending in a Henry shot going wide.

Scotland saw another effort blocked and one go wide from a freekick before we finally took the lead in style in the 19th minute with as good a goal as we'll see this season. A James chip found Sheerinho who played the ball out to Owen in the box. He flicked the ball back to Scotland straight away and Rocket lived up to his Soca Warriors nickname with a brilliant low shot from 20 yards out into the bottom corner.

As we know from bitter experience last weekend, Saints can't afford to rest on their laurels, especially with such a slender lead. So Saints kept up the pressure and three minutes after the goal, we won a freekick on the right after Keddie shoved Jason. Darren, looking as sharp as ever, took the freekick and found James in the box but the Saints skipper's diving header went just wide of target. Three minutes after that and some great linking play on the left between Sheerinho and Stanic ended in the latter crossing into the box. The ball was headed down as far as Jason but his shot went wide. Sheerinho tried his luck in the 26th minute when he latched onto a loose ball from the Stranraer defence but his volley went just wide.

Stranraer weren't out of it and forced a corner off James after the Saints midfield lost possession again. Darren was on hand with one of his magic headers to clear the danger. Saints were keeps up the pressure though and Sheerinho showed his magic with a quick reaction to a loose clearance from Corr, but his shot was held. If we had a problem, it was that the midfield weren't getting enough tackles in with a tendency to just hit the ball rather than keep the ball on the deck. As it was Stranraer possibly finished the half a bit stronger with James blocking a freekick but there wasn't really any danger.

It was a different story after the break. We started well enough with Jason earning a soft freekick after a couple of minutes. The ball was played into the box where James headed the ball down for Henry whose shot was blocked. Stranraer broke up the park through Walker who passed the ball inside to Payne but his drive was held comfortably by the Cat. Owen almost doubled our lead in the 50th minute from a Rustybitz freekick but his shot was disappointing with a weak effort easily held - something which summed up Coyle's contribution to Saints on the park today.

Saints were creating chances through other players with Scotland, Mensing and Sheerinho all having decent shots held or blocked. Stranraer were getting back into the game as the Saints midfield sat back too much. Hinds won a soft freekick after Pamela (who had another good game) had won the ball fairly. The resulting freekick beat the wall but sailed harmlessly over the bar. They kept up the pressure and like last week, Saints again seemed incapable of clearing their lines. Apart, that is from a real heart-in-mouth incident in the 62nd minute when a Stranraer corner was headed back across the goal and only reactions as sharp as the point on his wizard's hat saw Sheerinho clear the danger off the line.

The pressure didn't ease much but Pamela managed to break up the park with a good run. His pass found Henry wide right but despite getting a good cross in, yet again there was no white shirt pushing into the penalty box. Stranraer broke back up the park and saw a shot go wide after Sheerin lost possession. Then with 25 minutes left, a break into the box by Hamilton on the right only ended with a last-ditch tackle and clearance from Rustybitz.

The game was getting scrappier and more niggly as Stranraer pressed for an equaliser although their cause wasn't helped by a blatant dive in the box from Walker as he challenged Cuthbert for the ball. Referee Mike McCurry didn't hesitate to waive away the claims but also kept his cards in his pockets. Back up the other end Saints also had a decent penalty claim waived away by the referee after a Mensing cross seemed to be handled although almost as infuriating to me was seeing Coyle spending more effort in claiming the penalty rather than chasing down the loose ball.

Dobbie eventually replaced Owen in the 77th minute and two minutes later we wrapped up the points with a second goal. Some great passing and holding play through the middle of the park ended with Sheridan picking out Mensing on the right wing with a great curving pass. Simon broke into the box and cut back round the keeper before firing a hard low shot into the net.

After that, the home side seemed to run out of steam with the Cat easily dealing with a speculative long-range attempt six minutes from time. Ryan replaced Henry as Saints looked to tighten up the midfield and we were then treated to some tidy passing although Saints were chasing a third goal. Dobbie saw a decent shot blocked while Scotland was also crowded out. Jason was replaced by Scrabble in injury time but made little impact.

Overall it was a better performance than last week despite the lack of real goalscoring chances. The heavy pitch didn't help play much, but apart from a couple of nervy moments, w looked a lot more comfortable in defence. The midfield was certainly boosted by the return of Sheridan and Mensing gets my MoM for a solid game and a cracking goal. Up front Jason worked hard but I'm afraid to say Owen let the side down and looked off the pace too often. Still it's a small whinge given the result.

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