Temple Of Saints - Back on Track

Bells League Division One 09/12/2006

Saints 2 Scumdee 1 League Table Here

Team : Halliwell, Lawrie, Stanic, Mensing, McManus, James, Hardie, Dazza, Peaso, Jason, Sheerinho
Subs :

Subs : McGovern, Savo, McLaren, Pamela, Jackson It's not been a nice few weeks in Sainteeland with the sort of performances on the park which fit in brilliantly with the pantomime season (I'll leave it up to you to decide who the most likely candidate is to play the arse end of the horse). Unfortunately it's also reflected badly on Owen with plenty of criticism targeted his way about team selection and tactics. All of which meant that the build-up to the derby against the Coagies was a bit more subdued - the pre-match comments from manager and players having an air of deja-vu about them. In the end we wanted to see actions not words and by 4.45 despite using up our luck allocation for the season (thanks mainly to Bryn serving up a series of reminders why we wanted him dropped in recent weeks) a couple of classy finishes and some solid defending saw us take all three points. It wasn't the prettiest of games and there is still a lot of work to do on the park with the midfield again suffering from a lack of form and the defence at times looking dodgier than a Scumdonian in court. But we're through and for a change the results elsewhere in the league actually went our way - pretty enjoyable all round.

Lawson was suspended once more but Goran was available. Savo had his usual late fitness test but settled for the bench while Peaso was given a rare starting slot. The other surprise was the return of Kevin James to the heart of defence with Pamela dropped. The big question was whether or not Owen would return Bryn to the starting lineup or stick by McGovern. The manager opted for Bryn but that decision almost backfired big time on the manager. Elsewhere the midfield lined up with Mensing out wide right.

From the start, Saints looked a lot livelier than in recent games - a first minute ball from Andy Lawrie found Peaso in the box but his header went well wide of the goal. There was some hesitancy in the Saints play with a lot of nerves in midfield. The Scum's first opportunity came when Campbell got the better of McManus in the 4th minute but James was back there to clear the danger. There were some early signs of how serious the teams were taking the game though and the physical side of the Coagies game started to show soon after that with a late challenge leaving Jason flat out - with the freekick held up as Mann and Sheridan got involved with one another. Sheerinho took the kick but Roy had an easy catch in the box. Goran was next to test the keeper after Dazza set him up but again Roy easily held the cross.

It didn't matter a minute later as we took the lead in real style. A bit of pressure from the Scumdee was broken up and Mad Mental Martin played a fantastic long low pass to find Jason. He outflanked the floundering Strong to bear down on goal. Roy came out to the edge of his box to try and narrow the angle but Jason played an excellent ball from 20 yards out to send the ball along the ground and into the empty net. One-nil up and it seemed that the pressure was suddenly lifted. Two minutes later and the nerves were back with a vengeance. A simple Scumdee freekick was played into the box and Halliwell came out and punched the ball half-clear with Hardie punting the ball out of danger finding Peaso who was clattered from behind by Mann earning the Scumdee player a booking from referee Ritchie.

If the Saints fans enjoyed that, the emotions went the other way in the 14th minute as all Owen's defensive nightmares and clichés about soft goals came back to haunt him once more. A simple ball found McManus and James get into the sort of fankle that Houdini couldn't have escaped. With the ball bouncing around and the two central defenders looking like total haddies, in came Swankie. He got into the box and spotted Halliwell coming off his line. One quick chip and the ball soared over the keeper's head to go into the empty net and level the game. You couldn't have scripted such a shambles.

The game settled for a spell but Saints were guilty of hanging onto the ball to often and far too many times we were caught in possession with the midfield all over the place. A Sheridan body-check on a Scumdee player saw him unfairly penalised in the 20th minute which was all that Rae required to stick his ugly mug into things and mouth off at the Saints defender - even while the referee was giving him a telling-off. The argument continued and it was a credit to Sheridan that he didn't let himself become riled and wound up. As for Rae the tactic was one he repeated against most of the midfield over the 90 minutes with Hardie, Mensing and Sheerinho all suffering the same treatment - no doubt the media and the likes of Andy Walker would call it professionalism, I prefer to call it what it really is "pathetic".

The overall play was fairly even for most of the time. We wasted a couple of freekicks but Scumdee rarely threatened. A neat one-two from Sheerin and Peaso set up Sheerinho on the corner of the box in the 24th minute but the final shot was a weak one and again Roy wasn't troubled. But a minute later and we were back in the lead. A long ball wasn't cleared properly by the Scumdee defence. Peaso did well to get in and win the ball before it was sent up the park. Peaso turned and sent the ball short for Jason who sprinted down the inside right channel before skinning Strong in the box and angling the ball into the net past the stranded Roy for another brilliant finish.

Of course with Saints daring to take the lead, the referee had to get in on the act and a minute after that goal Hardie picked up a booking for looking at Rae in such a funny way that left Rae in agony - at least until the card had been shown and then he was back up doing the old spring chicken impersonation. The home fans were further annoyed three minutes after that when Jason had the ball down the left touchline. He cut inside but was felled by Mann. The referee at least awarded us the freekick but failed to book the defender. The freekick was played into the box where it was cleared and eventually found Jason on the left. He sent a good ball into the heart of the penalty area. Peaso missed the ball but it fell to James who did well to turn and get a shot in but it was easily held.

The disgust at the antics of Rae showed itself just after the half-hour mark with the player-manager-diver-cheat having another dive after going near Hardie in a blatant attempt to get the Saints midfielder red-carded. At least we were concentrating on the play with Scotland on the right setting up Mensing inside in the 35th minute who cut into the area but let the ball go too far in front of him. Unfortunately that summed up his play today with both him and Sheerin off form.

There was more controversy in the 37th minute when we were denied a blatant penalty. Peaso on the left set up Jason who fed the ball inside to Sheerinho in the box. He was lining up another left foot Wizard Wonderkick when he was clobbered by a Coagie. For a few seconds, it looked like Ritchie was going to award us the spot-kick but he waived play on in a decision which infuriated the Wizard and earned him a booking for dissent which did little to calm him down. On the plus side it served to fire up Saints for the rest of the half. Simon Mensing picked up his booking four minutes from the interval for an alleged foul on a certain player-manager-diving-cheat - God we couldn't have predicted that given the antics of the Dove Dodgers in the first-half.

Something else which was about as predictable as that fat bearded bloke giving you socks on December 25th happened a couple of minutes later - yup it was the Bryn Halliwell Goalkeeping Masterclass (as sponsored by Anchor butter which he seemed to have coated his gloves in pre-match). A Dundee throw-in from the left saw the ball allowed to break to Swankie at the edge of the box. He hit a cracking shot straight at our Bryn who let it bounce off his chest but failed to hold into it. Lyle was first to react and reached the ball 8yds out with no blue shirt near him. With the hearts of several hundred East Stand Saintees heading mouthwards, Lyle managed to somehow send the ball wide of target. Thankfully the referee blew for half-time to allow the nerves to settle once more.

Owen made a rare change at the interval with Darren Sheridan making way for Wullie McLaren with Sheerinho moving to the central midfield role. McLaren linked well with Peaso early on with a good cross into the box but the defence cut the cross out. Scumdee were out to try and draw level and the game was a lot more open with Rae given too much room for a long-range shot five minutes into the half. That was time for Part Two of Bryn's Goalkeeping Masterclass with another spectacular spill in the area. This time the Saints defence were at least a bit more alert and Kevin James was in there to clear the danger ahead of two white shirts. Two minutes later more Scumdee pressure ended in another cross not cleared properly and Mensing eventually got in to make a tackle and concede a corner (injuring himself in the process). The ball came in and we were spared Part Three of the Masterclass - in fact we were spared any action from the keeper at all with Halliwell nowhere and Saints relying on Peaso to clear the danger.

McLaren was giving us some more options on the wing and getting forward more. One link with Jason almost came off but Wullie overran the ball and his eventual cross was held. And just to add to the overall excitement it seemed the Saints defence strategy was to give Halliwell as much of the ball as possible - unfortunately the Saints goalie was looking almost as suspect dealing with passbacks as he was in his handling. We were definitely riding our luck and in the 62nd minute McDonald broke down the right and left Stanic for dead. His cutback into the box found Lyle but somehow the striker again missed a simple finish.

Three minutes later and the Saints defence was again sleeping with James having to make a desperate tackle to prevent a shooting chance. The ball went out for a corner and from that it was headed towards goal with McLaren clearing it off the line at the post. The ball was sent straight back in but this time Halliwell held the ball long enough to be fouled by Mann.

Peaso went off just after that looking pretty tired with Savo replacing him. Saints began to get back into the game with McLaren setting up Sheerin for a cross to Hardie which was headed out for a corner. From that the ball was headed down but McLaren's tight angle of a shot was held. We were starting to get more balls into the box with Savo and Jason getting more into the game and the midfield starting to press forward. In the 72nd minute McLaren won the ball on the left wing and sent it in for Mensing. He ran through the middle before playing the ball wide for Savo in the box, but his shot was well saved by Roy. McLaren picked up a booking for kicking the ball away in the 76th minute (it was that sort of day).

The game was dying down a bit as Scumdee began to run out of ideas. Saints had another excellent claim for a penalty in the 83rd minute when Jason was felled in the box, only for the referee to rule the foul occurred 3mm outside the area. The freekick was tapped by Sheerinho for Jason but his effort came off the wall and went out for a corner. Even so we almost increased our lead from that with Hardie sending a header just over the ball.

The action wasn't over and a Scumdee freekick into the Saints box was missed by James - this time Sheerinho was there to clear the danger. A foul on Scotland in the final minute rounded off the action with Rae finally getting the booking he deserved.

MoM for me was close with Mensing and Jason playing well at times but Kevin James gets it for a real captain's performance. There were too many players off the pace though - most of the midfield and McManus who struggled for most of the game, especially when he had to cover for Andy Lawrie. Goran struggled late on and again Jason was missing for long periods (although two good goals let's him off the hook). And don't even get me started on the keeper....

Still it's nice to be smiling on a Saturday night for a change...

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