Ayr 1 Saints 2 (after the inevitable extra bloody time)
Team : Cuthbert, Lawrie, Goran, Mensing, McManus,
James, Hardie, McInnes, Peaso, Jason, Sheerin
Subs : Halliwell, Dyer, Jackson, Anderson, McLaren
Somerset Park isn't exactly the most enticing of places for the visiting fan at the best of times. In fact comparisons with a trip to downtown Basra are usually made whenever you have to make use of the wonderful facilities at the ground. And of course it doesn't help that in recent years the entertainment on the park hasn't borne that much fruit for Saints. Tonight didn't look that much more optimistic as kick-off approached with the word lacklustre summing up Saints performances in recent weeks culminating in the crap we had to endure at Almondvale at the weekend. In addition this was the Scottish Cup, a tournament that in recent years Saints appearance in has had all the longevity of a Big Brother winners TV career, so expectations and the size of the travelling support weren't exactly bursting at the seams - such is the enthusiasm and optimism going round the terraces these days. But dogged determination, a bit of luck and sheer bloody-mindedness eventually saw us through. Unfortunately it means the cracks in the side were rapidly taking on Grand Canyonesque proportions as the game wore on and despite the win, there will be plenty of criticism that can be aimed at both the players and manager. And given how slow we looked at times, God knows the miracle that will be required to get the players back to a reasonable level of sharpness for the weekend fixture.
As usual Rustybitz was missing and after missing out on the Livingston Comedy Festival there was some hope that Savo would be able to return to the fray - until we got Monday's cheery news about his knee op. With little in the way of new signings, it was left to the same players from the weekend to get us through tonight's tie although there was the surprise addition of Kevin James returning to the heart of defence in place of Pamela with Calamity McManus allowed to try and regain some pride alongside him. That meant Pamela dropping to the bench and no room for Doris. Saints lined up in their usual 4-4-2 formation with Sheerin and Mensing the token wingers. Weather-wise it wasn't quite as bad as the weekend hurricane at Almondvale but the wind was of a similar strength - so you just knew the ball wasn't going to be allowed to spend much time on the deck, although it was the home side that played with the wind behind their backs for the opening forty-five.
Confession time first and due to traffic delays and the Somerset Park staff taking a few minutes to open the door to the adult away turnstile, yours truly missed the first five minutes of the game. So no eyewitness account of the build-up to the freekick for the opening goal although there was plenty of complaining afterwards from the home dugout of a hand being used by a Saints player. Anyway in I came just as Jason was lining up the freekick on the edge of the box. Up he ran and blasted a right-foot drive low through the wall and past McGeown into the bottom corner of the net. That was about as cheery as it got for the decent Saints support though and within a minute the cheers had turned to abuse aimed in the general direction of Mr Tumilty who demonstrated with more than a little skill how his gormless performance in charge of the previous meeting 10 days ago was merely a benchmark to aim for tonight. Within a minute of the restart Andy Lawrie became the first of several Saints players to go into the referee's book for a heavy challenge.
After the early drama the game settled down into one of those dour dreich games that are so loved by the journos across Scotland - especially when it gives them a chance to get their digs in at the wee teams. Kevin the Cat was the busier of the keepers early on but comfortably dealt with several dangerous crosses. At the other end the only move of note saw the Saints strikeforce link up before spreading the ball wide to an overlapping Goran on the left but needless to say, his shot went well wide of target. Most of the other pressure was unfortunately at the Saints end. Ryan Stevenson showed the new tricks he'd picked up with a blatant dive in the 12th minute on the right wing. The cross came over but the Cat was alert enough to reach up and paw it over the bar. A minute later he reached up to grasp an inswinging corner only to be flattened by a late challenge from a white shirted player - not that the referee bothered to take any action. Next up was dealing with a low cutback from the left after Lawrie failed to claim for offside and again the ball was held. Then in the 19th minute James conceded a freekick and this time the Saints goalie came leaping out to punch the ball clear. It was mixed emotions for the Saints fans - while it was good to see the keeper in excellent form it has to be said that it was tempered with the knowledge our defence and midfield looked to be about as organised as an SFA managerial job candidate hunt.
The half wore on and became pretty much a stop-start affair as the referee's whistle went into overdrive. There wasn't much in the way of real action and even less of it favouring Saints. Peaso set up Jason in the 24th minute for a turn and shot that was blocked while a minute later an Ayr break again found Saints defending far too deeply and forced to concede a corner. James won a freekick for a change just after that and from it the ball was headed on by Simon Mensing for Peaso who in turn set up Jason who broke through in on goal and with only the keeper to beat was interrupted by that most annoying of screeching sounds as the referee had another wee play with his whistle. This time it was a wonderful demonstration of how not to apply the advantage rule as play was pulled back for a foul on Peaso. The resulting freekick was of course wasted.
Ayr had their share of chances as well and came close in the 32nd minute but for timely interventions from James and McInnes in the box. However the home side won a corner for their efforts and from it the ball was fired across the goal just missing the target. Two minutes later and it was Andy Lawrie to the rescue as he headed a cross behind for a corner. Saints were unable to clear their lines and the home team won a series of corners with the third one ending up in a free header at the back post that was blocked. Even then the ball wasn't properly cleared and we had to endure the heart-in-mouth moment of watching Mensing pass the ball back to Cuthbert whilst the Ayr forwards were still hanging about like vultures around the Saints penalty area - luckily the Cat cleared the danger. The referee's cards were out again seven minutes from the interval. After Sheerin, who was having a very poor game and Mensing failed to stop another Ayr attack, it was left to James to make the challenge at the edge of the box. Of course it was deemed illegal and Big Kev picked up a needless booking for arguing with the man in the middle. Stevenson sent the freekick well wide though.
Back up the other end and Sheerin sent a freekick into the box for Mensing but the midfielder was just too slow to get to the ball at the back post. McInnes was next to try his luck with a high hanging freekick that the wind held up long enough for Mensing to head on for Jason but the keeper did well to come out and block the shot. There was more controversy before the break as Goran conceded a corner. The referee decided it was a freekick against the Saints player and that led to an almost embarrassing spell of watching the Saints left- back wasting his time trying to change the referee's mind. Even the sight of a yellow card shown in his direction for dissent nor the half-hearted attempt by McManus to play peacemaker calmed him down much and to be honest he was pretty close to a second booking. As it was the last booking of the half was for McInnes (not that we're sure what it was for) as Saints ended the first forty-five defending another corner.
After the interval it was much the same with Saints again struggling to gain any sort of advantage from the wind at their backs. It took until the 50th minute before we carved out our first real chance with Jason in the box turning two defenders before setting up the unmarked Mensing at the back post but somehow Simon managed to blast his shot a mile over the bar. Two minutes later Jason released Peaso but he was matched for pace by his marker and tackled in the box. Lawrie set up Mensing from a throw-in and he linked with Jason to set up Peaso who shot over the bar. A minute after that it was Goran who did the running before setting up Jason in the box. He in turn laid the ball back to McInnes but again the final ball went over the bar.
The play was still end-to-end although Ayr struggled more with the conditions. Or so it looked as a rare attack in the 65th minute brought them an equaliser from you-might-have-bloody-guessed. Again the Saints defence were more than a tad guilty of failing to clear their lines and the ball eventually broke to young Mr Stevenson at the edge of the box and he took one touch before firing in a half-volley that stayed down, beat Cuthbert and rocketed into the bottom corner of the net. Memories of St*nh**semuir and other such debacles began to surface from the dark recesses of the mind again. We almost regained the lead within a couple of minutes as a rare Sheerin cross found Hardie's head but his effort went wide of goal.
Peaso had a run end with another easy tackle from a home defender before Owen started to shake things up for the last 20 minutes with McLaren coming on in a straight switch for Sheerin. Saints were lacking in ideas though and the first touch from too many of the players was far too poor. Goran had a shot blocked in the 74th minute and Peaso sent one over the bar but that was about as good as it got. For their part Ayr were starting to show their lack of stamina and seemed happy to hit us on the counterattack. They also started to put in the heavy challenges of their own and in quick succession earned bookings for hacks on McLaren and Goran while their number 10 had a real stramash off the park with McManus.
In terms of action though the home keeper was becoming the busier. He had to look sharp to tip a James header over the bar with 15 minutes to go and with Saints piling on the pressure (and the cries of dismay from the Saints fans growing), he made a good save from a low Peaso shot and a Peaso header while the final action of the half saw a Lawrie deep cross meet the head of James only for the goalie to tip the header over the bar.
Extra-time was met with all the enthusiasm you'd expect with players and fans alike apparently expecting the worst but also dreading penalties. The wind meant Ayr again had most of the pressure with a series of corners early on. Martin Hardie was replaced by Jackson in the 95th minute and he moved to the right wing with Mensing switching inside. With 100 minutes on the clock we carved out our first chance of the period with a freekick finding Peaso who set up Jason for a shot that was cleared. Ayr broke up the park and forced a corner off James - the Cat easily dealt with the danger. A minute from the interval Jackson showed some great persistence to run through on the right wing before the ball was eventually cut back across goal where Mensing came in at the back post only to send the ball wide. The half ended with another bloody booking from the strangely quiet referee - this time it was Allan McManus on the receiving end although again the reason wasn't easily determined.
The second period of extra-time saw Saints pretty much camped in the Ayr penalty area but to little real effect .We made some chances though and a minute after the restart Jason showed good skill to turn and cross the ball for Peaso but his header was tipped over the bar. Then a minute later McLaren set up Jason who in turn fed Peaso for a low drive that was well saved. The corner was half-cleared only as far as McLaren and he hit a decent drive from the edge of the area but went well wide of target. Penalties were looming but Saints it seemed had finally begun to take more control of the game with Ayr fading badly. Another good McLaren cross after 110 minutes found Mensing and he sent in a deceptively powerful header that the keeper did well to get down and turn round the post.
We wasted a freekick a minute later and then just after that Jason made room to turn and fire in another shot over the bar. Peaso and Scotland had efforts go wide but with two minutes of extra-time left the miracle finally occurred. A long ball found McLaren who laid it into Jason inside the box. Scotland turned his man for the umpteenth time and laid the ball out to Peaso who from the edge of the box fired in a cracking rising shot that went just over the keeper and into the back of the net. The cheers in the away end were more of relief than anything else and despite a final attack by Ayr which caused some panic in the Saints defence we held on to the final whistle.
Over the piece we probably deserved to win with the Cat (my MoM for some excellent handling in difficult conditions) the quieter of the two keepers. Of the rest of the side Jason put in a good shift and there's no arguing with Peaso for the winner but there aren't many others who can hold their heads up tonight - although both subs had good games providing good delivery from the flanks. But overall there were too many tired legs and poor touches from the so-called experienced players in the side. Little pace and poor organisation at the back didn't help and it has to be a worry that yet again we failed to cope with the difficult conditions on the park. Too many of the side who have been stalwarts earlier in the season are looking jaded and in need of a rest or shake (delete as applicable) with Goran, Mensing, Sheerin and Hardie the main candidates.
Still at least Lawrie will get his dream return to Falkirk in the next round. And look we're still in the bloody cup!!!!!!!
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 Mike Tumilty - send marks out of 10 to refvote@grange.demon.co.uk or just select a rating and press the button below ::