Temple Of Saints - Hoodoo no more

Bells League Division One 17/03/2007

Airdrie 1 Saints 2 League Table Here

Team : Cuthbert, Lawrie, Goran, Mensing, McManus, James, Morais, Hardie, Peaso, McInnes, McLaren
Subs : Halliwell, Jackson, Sheerin, Jason, Lilley

Not exactly the most optimistic of times to follow Saints. After the midweek flop at Firhill which saw pretty much the end of the slim title challenge we'd put up and worse than that the sort of crappy shambolic performance that we hadn't seen in years from a Saints side that simply didn't look like they were bothered, it was time to head back west to the delights of New Broomfield, the sort of location which makes those weekend trips to Baghdad seem almost enticing. Our record there wasn't too good before this encounter and given everything else the travelling support looked set to be counted in the dozens rather than the hundreds - I mean if the players couldn't be arsed on Tuesday night, and our away form is such a mess, why should we be bothered. As it was, the performance wasn't that much better on a heavy mudbath of a pitch but for a change, Saints managed to produce some effort in the second-half and managed to beat a couple of hoodoos with our first win at Airdrie's ground and the first away win since the days when signing McInnes was just the sort of stuff Saints fans had nightmares about rather than "living the dream". Nothing close to acceptable for challenging for a title but at least we managed to find the back of the net and on occasion actually passed the ball to a blue shirt more than once.

Pamela had to sit this one out after being picked on by the referee on Tuesday night. The injury list on Friday had already seen James, Peaso and Savo rated doubtful and with this being a must-win game it looked like Owen was going to have to go for an unfamiliar lineup at the back at least. In the end, the changes were throughout the side with Jason dropped to the bench and Hardie partnering Peaso up front as Owen made sure McInnes kept his central midfield role alongside Mensing. James recall at the back meant Lawrie came in at right-back and God forbid we went slightly daring with two wingers in Morais and McLaren. Savo missed out completely so Andy Jackson was recalled alongside Jason and Sheerin on the bench.

We never start games well and so it was no real surprise when a simple Airdrie ball in the second minute was gloriously sclaffed behind the goal for a corner by McManus. Captain Kev was there to clear the danger though. The Saints defence repeated their "heroics" two minutes later this time setting up Wullie for a good break who squared to McInnes and then onto Morais - he simply kicked the ball out. Not the sort of inspiring samba style of play we were all hoping for - mind you when it's Old Airdrie vs New Airdrie should we have expected much else? Our first chance of any note came in the sixth minute when some pressure saw McInnes set up Mensing with a neat chip into the area just too far in front of Peaso at the far post. More good play on the right side from Saints came with Hardie setting up Filipe for a cross but Robertson was able to come out and hold it. But the best chance of the opening stages fell for Saints in the 12th minute. Kevin James got in to make a great tackle to break up an Airdrie break and his through ball fell for Peaso behind the home defence. He didn't quite have the pace though although he managed a weak shot straight at Robertson after being tackled on the edge of the box. Airdrie hit back on the quarter hour mark with a break on the left that split Filipe and Lawrie before a low cutback was missed by all but McLaren was there to clear the danger. Within a minute, Wullie had forced a corner at the other end but again that didn't threaten much. We were a bit better in the 20th minute with some good passing play from Stanic, Hardie and Peaso eventually releasing Filipe on the right inside the box but his angled shot went just over the bar.

Five minutes later though we broke the deadlock. A long freekick found Peaso who set up Filipe and he in turn won a corner. The ball came in and was missed by a ruck of players at the near post but there was the Mad Mental One himself at the back post for a simple header into an empty net to make it 1-0 with Airdrie's McGowan picking up a booking for arguing with the referee about the goal. We still weren't on top of things and within a couple of minutes Airdrie were causing us problems in our own area and after James missed the ball it took a panic clearance from Mensing to ease the danger. Two minutes later is was even worse as mistakes and slack passing in midfield allowed Airdrie to break through three on two but thankfully Kevin James used his blankness to get back and make a great last-ditch tackle in the box, with the referee waiving away the usual penalty claims after the incident.

The game overall was a fairly even affair but with the pitch not helping it was a scrappy for the most part. Owen was obviously getting more and more frustrated with the goings on on the park and when McInnes was again slack with a pass to Peaso and giving the ball away instead the manager wasn't slow in venting his feelings at our Veteran Midfielder - who was in turn just as quick in to ignore the noise from the dugout. Airdrie had a freekick into the Saints area that Lawrie did well to clear before they drew level with ten minutes of the half remaining. A long ball found Holmes looking suspiciously offside. There was no whistle and the Saints defence struggled to get back. Lawrie managed but Holmes cut in and sent a good shot past the Cat into the net to make it one each.

That meant of course that any hint of confident play went out the window and we began to lose our shape in the middle of the park which combined with the lack of pace up front limited our attacking options to a large extent. Mensing summed things up by picking up a stupid booking in the 41st minute for kicking the ball away after McInnes had given away another foul. Totally pointless and hopefully he'll be punished by the club for his stupidity. A minute later Lawrie was again skinned on the left and a cross came into the box which McLaren headed clear, although the referee and linesman again infuriated the Saints supporters after the Airdrie player appeared to handle the ball before playing it back in before Hardie cleared the danger again.

Saints started the second period a bit better with Peaso making a couple of early runs but the Airdrie defence were playing the offside trap to good effect. Goran had a decent run three minutes into the half but his cross like a lot of others this afternoon found no takers. Lawrie sent a good freekick into the area in the 52nd minute for James but his header was a weak one. A minute later and Peaso released Filipe who broke in from the right only to fire a first-time volley wide of the goal when it seemed like he had plenty of time to control the ball before shooting.

It wasn't long before Owen switched things with Peaso replaced by Derek Lilley in the 57th minute which meant we were switching to the pure form of the Airdrie game (i.e. punt it and hope for the best). McLaren was coming into a better game and a neat one-two with Goran ended in Wullie putting in a low cross for Filipe in the box but the keeper got out to save first. The play was end-to-end and James was called into action once more with another good tackle in the box although there was a worrying moment in the 61st minute as McManus conceded a freekick on the edge of the corner of the box. This time James missed the clearance but luckily so did everyone else and the ball went just wide of the target.

A minute later and the niggles which had been building began to show. A Morais run down the left was ended early as he encountered the bulk of Paul Lovering who flattened the Saints winger. Filipe ended up needing treatment before groggily being led to the touchline and to be honest looking pretty much out of it. He eventually recovered to rejoin the play while Lovering for his sins saw a yellow card. He was joined in the book a minute later by Wullie for a pretty soft foul as the game began to liven up although yet again there seemed to be a real lack of urgency or hunger about the Saints play. Morais had another good run in the 66th minute and sent a cross into the box for Hardie but the Mad Mental One decided to do a bit of blatant climbing to get the ball. McLaren then linked with Goran to force a series of corners but time and time again the Airdrie defence was able to clear their lines. With twenty minutes to go another McInnes slip up was the last straw for Owen and Jason came on to replace the Veteran Midfielder.

It was Airdrie who came closest to taking the lead though with one of their subs on the left skinning both Lawrie and Morais before firing in a low drive that the Cat managed to block with the defence clearing the loose ball. Next up it was Simon Mensing in the middle of the park who gave the ball away and allowed Harty to break through but his shot went straight at the Cat (who other than these saves had very little to do all afternoon - bit much like his counterpart at the other end of the park).

McLaren had a good run in the 77th minute into the box but a lack of blue shirts meant the final ball was weak. But with ten minutes to go we began to manage a reasonable spell of pressure. First of all a good McLaren cross broke for Morais on the far side and his shot looked to be handled in the box before going out for a corner. Mr Thomson waived away the penalty claim. The first corner was headed in by James but cleared for another corner. This time though the ball came in from the right and fell beautifully at the back post for Jason and he had the simplest of tap-ins for our second. There was almost a hint of optimism amongst the Saints fans.

Sheerin replaced Wullie for the last seven minutes but yet again it was a nervy ending as we simply sat back and defended the lead. Airdrie weren't up to much coming forward but the only real chances for us were limited to a Lilley run which was ended early by a blatant shirt pull that the referee again missed. Then the heart-in- mouth moment came in the final minute with Sheerin managing to dribble himself into trouble on the edge of his own box - again James managed to clear the danger but with Saints unwilling to cross the halfway line and running out of steam, the four minutes of injury time seemed like an age before the final whistle went and the hoodoos were finally buried. Yet again the cracks in the side showed with little confidence in the play and too many players making silly mistakes or not showing the composure or movement that we are crying out for.

James gets my MoM with pass marks for Goran, Hardie, Morais and McLaren while Lilley did well coming off the bench though both Sheerin and Jason still looked uninterested. McInnes was again very poor in midfield and it was noticeable today that he seemed to ignore the calls from the dugout and seemed more concerned with blaming his teammates. Still we got the points and managed to finish with eleven men on the park which is a rarity at Airdrie.

Onwards and upwards eh?

This Match Report is copyright Temple Of Saints - not to be reused without permission. Contact webmaster@grange.demon.co.uk.

Remember to vote on todays ref Craig Thomson- send marks out of 10 to refvote@grange.demon.co.uk or just select a rating and press the button below ::

Saints Index Fixtures Index Grange Index

Any problems / comments mail webmaster@grange.demon.co.uk