Temple Of Saints - Saints Let Us Down

Bells League Division One 10/02/2007

Scumdee 2 Saints 1 League Table Here

Team : Cuthbert, Lawrie, Goran, McInnes, McManus, James, Hardie, Mensing, Peaso, Jason, Sheerin
Subs : O'Brien, McLaren, Lilley, Anderson, Morais

With the joy of the cups out of the way it was back to reality for Saints today as the trip to Little Beirut (and their renditions of oh-so-witty Wurzels songs) meant a return to league business. After the highs of the win at Falkirk it was time for the excellent team spirit and fight shown in recent weeks to be carried into the jaws of Hell and Scumdom itself with what is arguably the most important game for Saints fans in terms of passion and gloating. The home side had been on a decent run themselves with their defence managing "clean sheets" several times (a phrase not usually heard in the vicinity of anything Scumdonian these days, never mind on the football park) and they'd sneaked themselves up to third spot in the league four points behind the Forces of Light. Of course, there was also the matter of dealing with the media darlings from the border to concern both teams with Saints looking to peg back the nine-point gap between ourselves and first place (or at least not let it get any wider). As it was, it was more a case of a return to the Saints of the pre-Gretna form with too many of the experienced players in the side letting us down big time with poor passing, discipline and general play. We looked slow from the start and despite the Scum being nothing more than average, they at least had the pace and stamina in their side to get forward - Saints were just static in comparison and the word composure seems to have vanished from the Owen and Sandy training bible. And just to round things off Mad Mental Martin lived up to his name with a second booking in the final minute to add to the depression in the away stand.

Jim Weir left midweek to go to Montrose but Owen hadn't wasted any time in getting Sandy Stewart in to swell the ex-Airdrie contingent at McDiarmid park. Into the squad had also come Allan McManus and Derek Lilley after they sat out the cup tie last weekend, while Goran had recovered from his foot knock to start. Owen went with only one change with Anderson again falling victim to the "experienced" strategy and dropping to the bench as McManus started. Otherwise we were unchanged on the park while on the bench Gordon O'Brien stepped up for the injured Bryn Halliwell and Dyer dropped out.

There was a good crowd of Saints fans through and from the start, the players were given plenty of backing. Conditions weren't that good from the start but even so there was a tendency for the ball to stay in the air too much for any decent play to get going. McInnes won an early freekick that was easily cleared and then in the fourth minute Hardie and Sheerin linked for the latter to send a deep cross in from the left that Mensing got up to head back across the goal for Jason but he was unable to make any real room for the shot. McInnes got in on the act himself a couple of minutes later getting on the end of a long ball before trying a volley from the edge of the box that went well over the bar.

The game in general was a petty stop-start affair with the referee showing the sort of petty-mindedness that would surely make him a prime candidate to replace David Taylor at the SFA. Even so, given the number of freekicks we were awarded there was a major lack of creativity in the deliveries into the box with Smith and Mackenzie dealing comfortably with the high balls and no real pace from the Saints front line. Our best chance of the opening stages came in the tenth minute when a battling Hardie won a corner. From it a Sheerin outswinger found an unmarked Kevin James, but there was none of the scoring ability on show from the skipper this week and his unmarked header went well wide of target. The Scumdee immediately counter-attacked with Goran skinned on the left. Luckily the final shot went wide of target but it was an early sign that Goran was about to have one of his off-days. We were starting to get some pressure on the home goal and Roy was called into action in the 12th minute after Peaso and Jason linked well on the right wing with the latter sending a good cutback for Hardie but Roy was there to save at his feet.

The referee was having none of it though and James picked up the first booking of the game after the softest of challenges on a coagie. Dundee came close a couple of minutes later after winning a corner. The ball was played out and Goran skinned again. The linesman flagged for offside but the referee failed to blow and they won a second corner - this time the shot was blocked by the Saints defence. Saints were again guilty of defending far too deeply with the midfield sitting back and unable to show the sort of movement and pace required even allowing for the conditions. McManus picked up a warning for a late foul while Jason was too slow to react to a long ball from Mensing which saw Roy come out and clear the danger. Hardie had a shot from a corner go well over the bar and in the 27th minute Scotland and Hardie combined well to win the ball and send it wide left for Sheerin. He sent a high cross into the 6yd box for Peaso but a Scumdonian shirt got in the way to head the ball clear.

Hardie set up Peaso on the left a minute later and Peaso got to the edge of the box before sending a low angled shot across the goal and just wide of the far post - all the more annoying when Jason was in space in the middle, a point he wasn't slow in making to Peaso. The same move happened in the 31st minute on the other side when Hardie set up Peaso who cut the ball back for Jason but his shot was tipped wide of goal by Roy. The corner kick came in for a James header half-cleared as far as Hardie who tried a Savo-esque overhead kick which Roy had to look sharp to get down and hold.

Three minutes after that though we had by far our best chance so far to take the lead. Hardie's long ball found Peaso who fired in a decent shot that Roy got down to palm clear. In came Sheerinho into the box for the follow-up only to be up-ended by Smith. The referee was close enough that even he couldn't avoid giving us the spot kick but Smith escaped any real punishment. Despite his recent form, Sheerin elected to take the spot-kick himself but despite hitting a decent effort, Roy still guessed correctly and got down to tip the ball round the post. The resulting corner ended up in another James header being cleared but you began to get the feeling it was going to be one of those days.

Scumdee pressed back as the half drew to a close with a couple of headers which although they went wide of target still served as a warning to the Saints defence. There was some controversy in the 40th minute after Swankie went in late on Peaso - no freekick was awarded and some justice was done as the Scumdee winger went down wasn't much sympathy though as he underwent one of those miraculous recoveries so prevalent amongst the Scumdonian players in recent years. The half ended with a Davidson shot held easily by Cuthbert.

There was the usual half-time team motivational talk from Owen which of course meant that the Scum started the second forty-five a bit sharper with some early runs at the Saints defence. They almost took the lead in the 50th minute as Stanic was again left for dead on the touchline before the ball was spread over to the other flank where Swankie was in plenty of space and sent a good cross in that beat the Cat but came back off the inside of the post before being sent wide by Lyle. That was the wake-up call and a minute later a long ball found Jason through on goal. He rode one tackle and rounded the oncoming Roy before shooting the ball low into the net from 12 yards to give us the lead.

The Scum tried to get back with the aid of the referee with Hardie pulled up for a foul in the 54th minute. The wall did it's job though and Peaso cleared the danger - the trouble of course being that as a striker he had bugger all white shirts to clear the ball to, something typical of our play over the whole ninety minutes. The pressure was kept up and Swankie left Lawrie for dead before putting in a cross that McManus blocked. The ball still fell for Lyle but the Cat was there to hold the ball. The niggles off the ball were growing as well and Mensing and a Scumdonian picked up bookings for indulging in some handbags at ten paces. We weren't coping well with the worsening conditions and the chances for us were few and far between. Lawrie had a long throw headed on by James for Jason but his shot went out for a corner. From that Peaso had an unmarked header but put the ball over the bar. Hardie picked up a booking for an unknown offence (probably in the referee's imagination) on the hour mark which was to become important later - but Swankie escaped any punishment just after that for a blatant shove on Lawrie.

Dixon was given room to latch onto a half-clearance in the 62nd minute but he pulled his shot wide. It didn't matter two minutes later as a chip into the box found the Saints defence almost non-existent and Swankie was in there to drop to the deck as the unaccustomed smell of soap from the clean Lawrie hit his nostrils. Unfortunately the referee saw things differently and awarded a penalty kick and booked Lawrie into the process - consistency wasn't exactly the most noticeable aspect of his officiating. Lyle stepped up and hit the spot kick straight through the middle as the Cat dived to his left to level the scores.

Owen made his first change after that with Peaso (who had looked slow and off the pace all day), making way for Lilley. Two minutes later and a good run by Goran found Lilley in the middle but he just failed to make contact. The Saints midfield was looking poor though and seemed to be tiring quickly in the conditions. That didn't excuse the passing (or rather lack of it) with too many players unwilling to hold onto the ball and try and play sensible move instead of the kick and rush technique. This was typified in the 71st minute with some good build-up ending up in Sheerin going for a run and losing the ball far too easily. Swankie tried to chip the Cat in the 74th minute after the Saints defence again failed to clear the danger - although there has to be some questions about the general marking of the Scumdee winger by the defence with Lawrie and Mensing both posted missing too often.

Wullie McLaren came on for Sheerin in the 75th minute as Saints tried to get some pace going, but we were unable to get the ball forward enough. Lawrie sclaffed a header in the 77th minute and that let Lyle in for a shot that went just over the bar (again the marking was all over the place). There was little mobility in the Saints side with the likes of McInnes and Mensing caught for pace but the defence was again at fault nine minutes from the end when we went behind. Goran and Wullie had failed to play the ball clear on the left and it was spread over to the other flank where Swankie was there apparently unmarked again. He had room to play in a cheeky chip that went over and despite the Cat almost getting to it, it came in just under the crossbar and into the net. Technically it was as good a goal as you can see but from a Saints point of view it was very disappointing as again poor marking and an inability to play out our own area came back to bite us.

Owen went for broke with Mensing off and Morais on and James stuck up front. It was all to no avail though - Jason had a good shot blocked in the 84th minute before the Cat did well to get down and tip a low shot wide of goal. We were panicking too much though and the passing and discipline went out the window. Our last chance came in the 87th minute after Goran was taken out. His freekick went deep into the Scumdee box where it was headed down for the unmarked McLaren but his shot went into the side netting. We just looked plain desperate and with time running out Hardie decided to let the red mist get control and went in with a late challenge in the final minute - he got his second booking and subsequent red (and a nice suspension next week) while Derek McInnes showed some energy to chase down the referee and earn a booking for dissent.

Overall it was the sort of knackered looking heavy-legged performance we expected last week. There's no doubt that conditions were a factor but at the same time there was a real lack of mobility on the park and to add to that we had a poor show of discipline on the park - too many stupid bookings and plots were lost. In terms of a MoM, Hardie might have got it apart from his red card so I'm going for Jason - scored a decent goal and tried his best despite the shit service he received all afternoon. There were problems throughout the side though - Goran, Sheerin, McManus and McInnes all seemed to be off the pace and Peaso looked too slow. Lawrie's defending was back to it's worst and again Mensing didn't look like a winger. For all that though it didn't seem to stop some of the Saints fans targeting McLaren for the abuse towards the end though which was totally uncalled for. If we want to look at who let the side down today, it was the experienced heads.

At least the season isn't over yet....

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 William Collum - 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