Temple Of Saints - Oh so close
Scottish Cup Semi-Final 14/04/2007
Saints 1 TFOE 2
Team : Cuthbert, Anderson, Goran, McInnes, McManus,
James, Sheerinho, Hardie, Peaso, Jason, Mensing
Subs : Halliwell, McLaren, Jackson, Lawrie, Morais
The
big day was finally here with the most hyped-up and buzzing Saints crowd
in a long time dosing themselves up with alcohol and penicillin before
heading through to the delights that come from a visit to one of the Bigot
Brothers. Of course today was a bit different from our last time (when we
oh so joyously shafted The Forces of Darkness) and Owen's boys were coming
up against The Forces of Evil (complete with their best fans in the world
tag who were so well camouflaged you'd have thought there were loads of
empty seats in their end) at the rather more unfamiliar surroundings of
the national stadium for the biggest game of the season so far and a
chance to make that final step for a return visit in the Scottish Cup
Final at the end of the month. Last weekend's gubbing of that other mob of
media favourites had helped boost morale and it's not as though we hadn't
dealt with EssPeeEll opposition much this season but of course Sellik
haven't looked as dodgy as their counterparts over the season and
deservedly were creeping up to the title winning margin.
Owen had said all week that we wouldn't go to sit back and apart from a
nervous opening stage, the lads did us more than proud and the unfortunate
thing is we gave the Evil Ones far too much respect and with a bit more
luck in front of goal, we'd have earned at least a replay, if not that
final berth. As it was, the players and fans did the name of St Johnstone
proud and there's nothing more we could have asked for.
For the team Simon Mensing and Filipe Morais were allowed back from
their suspensions for the game, although Morais had missed training during
the week with a virus, while the Cat was available after missing out at
Gretna. Derek Lilley was cup-tied though while injuries and illness meant
that Doris and Dyer missed out on the big occasion. Peaso, who had scored
in every round so far and Jason who had been the media's darling during
the week were both fit while Savo had been in with a chance of making the
squad. In the end Owen opted for experience and went for only two changes
from the side that beat Gretna last week. In came the Cat at the back
while Mensing replaced Morais who dropped to the bench. The pre-match
build-up saw the Saints fans in fine voice even managing to drown out the
crap PA announcer at times.
With
a cracking atmosphere amongst the Saints fans, the game started with
Charlie Richmond nailing his colours to the Sellik mast early on with a
couple of soft freekicks against Saints. Our nerves were showing and
McManus had to look sharp to head one cross clear while the Cat was caught
in no-mans land as he missed a cross and saw the follow-up shot go over
the bar. Generally we looked far too slow and the midfield was in danger
of being swamped. Saints lived dangerously again in the seventh minute
when a TFOE corner broke to Hartley but his effort was blocked. A minute
later he sent in another freekick, but the Cat and Goran managed to clear
the danger although neither looked too convincing doing so. Still we
managed our first real break in the 9th minute when Peaso was released but
despite being fouled, the referee waived away the claims for a freekick. A
minute after that and a long ball from Hardie found Peaso but Boruc came
out to gather. Another great ball from the Mad Mental One found Jason on
the left and he broke down the left beating the offside trap before
putting in a shot that Boruc stuck out for a corner - James heading that
over the bar.
Time then for cock-up number one. What looked to be a simple header back
to his keeper for James was too short and VenerealWhoreofScepticTank
nicked into take the ball but as the Cat came out to gather, he went down
quicker than the Ginger Gits face when asked a simple question by a BBC
reporter. Richmond took an age in the spotlight before pointing to the
spot although he at least showed an ounce of common sense and didn't even
book the Cat. As for the spot-kick, VenerealWhoreofScepticTank stepped up
to hit a low shot to the Cat's left which the Saints keeper got down to
get his fingertips to, only to see the ball rebound off the post, go along
the goalline and into the net. It's at times like these you begin to
realise that we have to make our own luck.
The blue and white masses weren't about to give up though and suddenly
Saints seemed to waken up. Sixteen minutes gone and some good play in the
midfield saw Mensing release Peaso on the right and his great cross for
Sheerinho at the back post was cut out by Boruc. But the miracle came
within sixty seconds and a nothing run on the left saw Sheerinho release
Hardie and the Mad Mental One fired in a McMahonesquian cross cum shot
that sailed over the area and seemed to be heading in before the
backtracking McManus (the crappy Evil One, not our Saintified one)
contributed with a header into his own net (I'm still crediting Hardie
though). Oh how we laughed - well once the moment of stunned silence and
subsequent cheering was over.
With the scores level again, the game began to really liven up with
Naylor (Player of the Year my arse) diving following a challenge from
Anderson which earned the Saints defender a finger-wagging from Richmond.
From the freekick Mensing headed the ball back but the Cat came out to
gather. Saints hit back with Mensing setting up Jason beautifully and he
laid the ball off for Peaso who hit a cracking shot that Boruc the
BerryPicker held. The game was pretty end to end with both defences
looking shaky - one long ball from TFOE seeing the Saints defence hesitate
with the Cat reluctant to come out although he eventually took the ball.
Peaso was causing the tattie-munchers defence all sorts of problems and
Hardie set him up with a good ball and he broke to the byeline but his
cross across the box found no takers.
If the Cat had looked nervous initially he pulled off one of the best
saves of the season in the 28th minute when another dangerous cross in
found VenerealWhoreofScepticTank up for a header but somehow the Cat
managed to get up and tip the ball over the bar. From the corner McManus
(the shite one) had a shot off Ando. The next corner came in but Goran
headed the ball well clear of danger and found Jason who set up Peaso on
the flank - he went on another good run and managed to force a corner at
the opposite end off Boruc the Berry Picker. Sheerinho sent the ball in
but the Berry Picker was up to trip the ball behind. Back in came another
corner and this time it was Mad Mental Martin who rose up to fire in the
ball but Boruc held comfortably.
Saints were looking more and more confident as the game wore on and
another freekick (after Peaso was again fouled) saw James head the ball
down but Peaso was adjudged to be just offside. Play soon switched back to
the other end and Ratface Riordan was in behind the defence but this time
the Cat beat the Rat and stuck the ball out for a corner. That in itself
caused it's own set of problems as the Saints keeper was being crowded out
every time the ball came into the 6yd box with his defence providing
little in the way of protection.
The game itself was a lot more open and the play was switching from
end-to-end although strangely the "best fans in the world" (well
the ones that bothered to turn up that is) were rather noticeable by their
silence. McGeady the turncoat had also decided to get stuck in and while
one cross found Ratface who put a header wide with the Cat stranded, it
seemed that oor Aiden would rather spend more time on his arse pleading
for a foul than getting on with the game - pity the referee fell for it as
well. He did have one good run in from the left which saw the Saints
defence back off him but his shot went over the bar. The half though
finished with another golden opportunity for Saints as McManus (the Shitey
One) again fouled Peaso (not that the defender was even spoken to of
course). In went the freekick and James knocked the ball down for Jason in
the box who laid it off perfectly for Sheerinho and he fired in a
beautiful low drive that went just wide of Boruc's post.
After a fairly relaxed half-time break which saw the Saints support
growing in confidence, the second period began with Sellik upping the ante
and looking a lot sharper from the kick-off. However, it wasn't long
before we were making our mark on the game although Hartley (who I'm sure
wasn't as whinging a wee shite when he was with Saints) made more of a
mark on Hardie in the 50th minute. The Saints freekick went into the box
and again Hartley looked to have fouled Hardie but the referee waived away
the penalty claims - not that it stopped Lennon from trying to psyche out
Hardie (and the Ginger Twat wonders why nobody likes him). A minute later
Del became the first Saints player to be booked after Nakamura did a Wegie
Senga impression (went down easily and not very prettily), although it
took assistant ref Mr Lennon's insistence to get Richmond to actually
award the decision. The freekick was cleared as far as Hartley but his
shot from the edge of the box was brilliantly tipped wide by the Cat.
Unfortunately the resulting corner wasn't so cleanly dealt with and a near
post header from VenerealWhoreofScepticTank beat McManus (the Saintly one)
and ended up in the net to give TFOE and undeserved lead.
Straight
away, we were back in the thick of the action and with the Saints fans
urging the team on (and the TFOE ones quickly silenced again), Peaso broke
through only for Caldwell to blatantly foul him. The freekick into the box
was met by Gunther's head but Boruc again held. TFOE went back up the park
and nearly scored a third when a ball over the defence found Ratface
breaking through but with just the Cat to beat he somehow managed to chip
the ball over the bar - well it made me laugh.
Play again went back up the park with Sheerinho showing some great skill
to skin his markers but again the final ball was a poor one. Hartley the
whinger had a low cross that the Cat held but Saints were starting to lay
some pressure of our own on now. Peaso on the left had a brilliant run up
the wing before chipping the ball in for Hardie but he just failed to
connect with it. Then a cracking move in the 63rd minute saw some of the
best passing play from Saints this season as Goran sprinted through the
channel playing one-twos with Hardie and Peaso before cutting a low ball
into the 6yd box for Jason who was just unable to turn to make the shot.
Mensing picked up a yellow as another TFOE scumbag hit the deck and
Ratface was replaced by Kenny Miller - a move the Sellik "faithful"
greeted with a similar reaction Saints fans would have on seeing James
Grady brought on as special half-time guest at McDiarmid. Anyway that
change was of little relevance as Saints kept up the pressure with a good
run from Mensing setting up Jason on the right who cutback in and set up
Ando who had made a good run of his own only for his shot to be deflected
out for another corner. We were more than holding our own though and while
the play at times resembled the do-or-die style, we began to create more
and more chances. Another Mensing run into the box in the 68th minute
ended with Hardie being tackled but Peaso won back the ball and forced a
corner from which Del headed the ball over.
With 20 minutes to go you could see the lack of sportsmanship and fair
play coming to the fore in the TFOE players (like watching any scum float
to the top) with Lennon holding the ball instead of getting on with the
game and Hartley the Whinger picking it up, walking away and then throwing
it back - all of which didn't even merit a warning from the referee
(strange as similar actions saw a Saints player booked twice at Raydale).
James saw a header held and then with 14 minute left, our best chance
came when Hardie set up Jason beautifully to cut in from the left and his
shot went under Boruc but somehow Caldwell managed to get over and clear
the ball off the line for a corner. Before that was taken, Filipe replaced
Mensing and there was more controversy when the ball was floated in when a
James header appeared to be handled by a Sellik defender - of course, the
shirt colour was the wrong one and the referee waived play on. Morais had
a cross in and Hardie was up but Boruc managed to get out and punch the
ball clear. A minute later and Morais was again in the thick of it after
being fouled. He took a quick freekick and his cross into the box was met
by a brilliant James header that went just over the bar. Obviously the
Ginger Git was getting worried and on came that bald bloke whose burd is a
porn star in place of Nakamura ("you're only here to sell shirts"
as the chant went). Morais and Jason combined well a few minutes later as
a run into the defence was cleared with the ball breaking back to
Sheerinho who controlled it well before firing in a soft shot that was
held.
The
closing stages saw no let up in the action with Miller having a low shot
held as the Cat awoke from his slumbers for a few minutes before play
returned to the other end of the park. Hartley had a wee tantrum with the
ball as he threw it away and Miller had a blatant dive as their tactics
became clear as they tried to kill the game. Jason had a good run into the
box four minutes from time with the ball seeming to strike the hand of a
TFOE player and then two minutes from the end Scotland set up Sheerinho
who blasted in a powerful long-range effort that Boruc could only parry -
pity there was no blue shirt to follow up.
Wullie came on for Sheerinho as the clock wore down and James moved up
front as an additional striker. He had one header held and then Hardie
picked up a booking for going into a fair challenge for a 50-50 ball which
left a TFOE scumbag down and Lennon raising his arms - at least this time
the referee finally booked him. Gravesen went in late on McInnes just
after that and didn't even get a warning which summed up the consistency
of Richmond for the whole game. Even in the dying stages though we were
chasing an equaliser and Morais forced a corner but James header went to
the keeper when it seemed easier to knock the ball down - cue the final
whistle and a mass exodus of opposition fans while Saints deservedly
applauded the boys off the park.
Some nervy moments early on and while it's hard to look back and think "what
if.." the end result is that for 90 minutes we matched the supposedly
best team in Scotland and were bloody unlucky not to at least have forced
a replay. Every one of the players in blue again raised their game when
needed and fought hard for the team for the whole match. The Cat was
unlucky early one but recovered with 2 great saves while the defence was
as solid as its ever been. Midfield saw Hardie (who just shades my MoM)
carry an interesting bulge in his back pocket (give you a clue, it was
ginger and whined a lot cos nobody liked it) while some of the touches
Sheerin, Morais, Peaso and Jason had were simply sublime. Everyone at the
club can be proud of what they've achieved in the cups this season and
they gave us a day to remember.
So we'll just have to settle for the league then?
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