Temple Of Saints - Saints Xmas Gift

Bells League Division One 16/12/2006

Hamilton 2 Saints 2 League Table Here

Team : Halliwell, Lawrie, Stanic, Mensing, McManus, James, Sheridan, Hardie, Peaso, Jason, Sheerinho
Subs : Cuthbert, Savo, McLaren, Lawson, Pamela

After last weekends return to some sort of form, at least in the goalscoring aspect of our game, today saw another big test for Saints as we travelled through to the artificial delights of New Douglas Park to take on Accies (with the usual quota of travelling fans enjoying the view from the free terracing). Billy Reid's side have enjoyed a good start to the season and tied with us for third place at lunchtime. By 5pm things hadn't changed much with Saints again managing another chalk and cheese performance with the second-half show from Saints again a mixture of a comedy of errors and some persistent play - either way it was a real disappointment following a first forty-five which we completely dominated despite some strange refereeing decisions. Again though it was the lack of width and creativity from the midfield that caused us the greatest grief and with Jason obviously not out to impress any scouts today and the defence at times challenging the Keystone Kops in the comedy stakes (aided and abetted by Heart-In-Mouth Halliwell in goals) we never really hit the sort of form which is required to get wins at places like Hamilton, never mind show any sort of title-challenging form. Simply not good enough and I'm afraid the transfer window can't open soon enough - especially since the number of positions in the side that need strengthening is growing by the week.

The weekly traditions and rituals of late fitness tests, injury worries and Owen's dilemma over who to give the number one jersey to are well- known to Saints fans - both McGovern and Bryn haven't had their troubles to seek in recent weeks and the Cat unfortunately was still suffering from a hand injury - as it was McGovern was nowhere to be seen and the Cat returned to the bench. Savo hadn't trained all week, so dropped to the bench. Paul Lawson returned from suspension to maybe get a run of games going (well 3 before he naffs off back to Parkhead). Kevin James had a mouth abscess and Darren Sheridan was doubtful before the game with severe bruising on his arm (either that or some sort of infectious fungal disease picked up from contact with the frothing saliva of Alex Rae last weekend), but both started the game with Lawson forced to settle for a place on the bench at the expense of Andy Jackson.

Saints started the game the livelier side and looked a lot sharper than their hosts. Scotland won the first of many freekicks in the second minute and Darren Sheridan's effort was headed just over the bar by Peaso. Two minutes later and a quick throw-in from Goran on the left was turned in by Mensing to set up Peaso but again the final effort lacked real power and was easily held. Saints looked a lot more comfortable on the artificial surface and the likes of Peaso, Mensing, Hardie and Sheerinho seemed to be getting a lot of room to threaten what looked like a very shaky defence.

Hamilton's first real chance didn't come until the 10th minute when a good break cut us open down their right. The ball found Offiiong through the middle but luckily for McManus in defence, the final ball was out of the striker's reach. Two minutes later and the action was at the other end, with the referee infuriating the Saints fans. Peaso won a corner and when the ball was played in James was blatantly shoved by two Accies players in the box - unfortunately it seemed that because he didn't do a Rae and drop like sack of proverbial spuds, the referee decided to let play go on. It was the beginning of a real battle in the Accies area with James coming in for a fair bit of physical attention from the Accies number 5 (including a wee kick off the ball that the referee missed).

We were creating chances though and Hardie came close in the 16th minute when he got onto the end of a Sheerinho freekick, but is shot went wide of target. Two minutes later and a similar freekick found Kevin James but his header was also wide. The game was suffering from a lot of niggly fouls and with the referee unwilling to play any advantages, the action wasn't exactly flowing. Lawrie was on the receiving end of a hefty challenge from Offiiong while the referee felt the need to warn James and the Accies no 5 for arguing on the line whilst waiting on a Sheerinho corner. For all our work, we weren't creating much in the way of clearcut chances. Peaso came close in the 23rd minute when a Sheerin freekick was flicked on for him by James but the shot went wide of goal. Two minutes later a good Scotland run (about as rare a sighting as Santa these days) set up Sheerin but his shot was wide. Just after that we did have the ball in the net. Another Sheerin corner found Mensing who set up James for a flick down to Peaso - his shot ended up in the net but was chalked off for offside. You began to feel that it might not be our day.

Accies began to press back and just after the half-hour mark, won their first corner but that was easily cleared (as was a follow-up a couple of minutes later), without even threatening to get Halliwell's gloves dirty. Saints took the play back up the park with a good break in the 35th minute which saw Jason in plenty of room down the right channel. Unfortunately Mr Wannaway opted for a weak shot from the edge of the box which didn't cause any problems - especially annoying when he had time and room to take the ball into the box for a better shot - maybe the festive laziness had struck early. The referee soon started dishing out the cards with two quick bookings for Accies players - Neill for a foul on Mensing and the number 5 for a foul on Peaso, classed as persistent fouling. The freekick from that found Goran. His cross was headed on by James for Hardie but the final shot went wide.

With Saints looking about as likely to score as the OF are of having a peaceful festive encounter tomorrow, the miracle occurred two minutes from time as Saints broke the deadlock in some style. Kevin James sent a long ball towards the home box where he found Mad Mental Martin. Hardie's header went to Mensing who set up Peaso. He couldn't get room for the shot but laid the ball off for Hardie to finish off the move with a fantastic shot from the edge of the box that was destined for the back of the net from the moment it left his boot. An absolute cracking goal.

It wasn't long before the game returned to normal and the Saints goalscorer was on the end of a nasty challenge from Accies number 2 which left him needing treatment and the Accies player joining his teammates in the book. Saints pressed from the freekick with another good ball into the box from Darren ending n a corner which subsequently saw the ball headed wide by Kevin James. And proof that the Saints skipper had offended the Gods of Luck this week came a minute later as he became the first Saints player in the book just before the interval allegedly for persistent fouling, but using the strange definition of persistent from the referee - it was his first foul.

After dominating a lot of play in the first half, there was the usual hopes that Owen's inspirational team-talk over the half-time oranges might have the desired effect for once but again it was the opposition that came out of the tunnel looking the livelier side and with the rain and sleet starting to come down with a vengeance, the game was a bit more of a lottery and a lot more even. Saints looked a lot shakier in defence and seemed to be struggling not so much to win the ball but to actually do something creative with it afterwards - too often the ball went straight to an opponent. So with the boys starting to slip up the ole Sucker Punch hit in the 53rd minute. With Goran out of position, a long ball down the Accies right saw James lose out to Offiong. He took the ball to the touchline, before a simple cutback found McLeod who hit a powerful shot past Halliwell with the keeper stranded.

One each but if we'd begun to doubt the skills and abilities of the Saints side, within a couple of minutes our fears looked to be unfounded. A throw-in from the left ended in a cross going in. Hardie got to it with his head and the ball fell to Peaso who lobbed it over the keeper and after about 300 years, it dropped into the net. Not exactly against the run of play but not exactly expected either. Still we were leading again and for a while Saints began to press a bit. A freekick in the 57th minute found Mensing who set up Jason but his effort was cleared, while a minute after that some good pressure saw Jason set up Sheerinho who also missed the target.

Time for sucker punch number two and Accies got an equaliser in the 64th minute after some pressure again down their right. This time though the referee should have blown for a foul but with too many people waiting on a whistle, Offiong took the ball to the edge of the box and fired in a chip shot which found you-know-who not exactly on his line. Yet again Bryn had to watch the ball sail over his head and yet again Saints had gifted another soft goal to the opposition.

With the scores tied, the game was a much more even affair with both sides chasing a winner. McManus fired a shot over and Jason saw a good solo run (just to prove he can occasionally play) end in a corner in the 70th minute. Our best move came a minute later though with Sheerinho setting up Peaso who spread the ball out to Jason. He took it to the box and cut it back for Sheerin but his shot was brilliantly saved by the Accies keeper. That effectively ended Peaso's time and Savo came on to chase the winner.

The game was pretty end-to-end and the Saints defence had a couple of panicky moments before our next chance came in the 77th minute. Lawrie sent over a good freekick into the box and after the proverbial stramash, the ball came back to James at the edge of the box but his shot again forced the home goalie into a brilliant save as he tipped the ball over the bar. Back at the other end we had Halliwell half-punching the ball clear at one point before the defence got in on the act and failed to clear their lines properly - this time it went unpunished as Wake's shot went wide. When we eventually got the ball up the park (not helped by the usual kicking skills from Halliwell), we just couldn't get near the goal - James saw another shot go wide and Sheerinho saw a decent shot held five minutes from time while a freekick in the last minute ended with a shot being blocked and Accies breaking up the park before shooting over the bar. The final action saw another Sheridan freekick into the box find James but just to sum up his afternoon, the referee blew for a foul against the Accies defence. Just the sort of title-challenging form we wanted to see us through the festive period.

Candidates for MoM we few and far between today. James and Hardie had their moments and Peaso looked almost back to his best but the likes of Mensing, Stanic and especially Scotland were very poor. MoM though for me was the wee terrier himself with Darren Sheridan at the heart of most of the midfield play - pity about the lack of movement from some of his teammates.

Owen - time to shake things up!

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