Temple Of Saints - Bye-Bye Title

Bells League Division One 13/01/2007

Meadowbank 3 Saints 2 League Table Here

Team : Cuthbert, Lawrie, Stanic, Mensing, McManus, Anderson, Hardie, McInnes, Peaso, Jason, Sheerinho
Subs : Halliwell, Dyer, Jackson, Doris, McLaren

After the wee break from league drudgery last weekend to enjoy some cup drudgery it was back to the bread and butter of Division One today against Wee Fat Robbo's Meadowbank side who, it has to be said, have if anything had an even worst season than us. Still there's no room for sympathy and with the new signings for Owen's boys looking as likely as Walter Smith getting an invite to the next SFA love-in, a bare-bones Saints squad made the trip to Almondvale knowing that any more slip-ups and we can probably kiss our title dreams a fond farewell for another year. Even an echo of the draw between the two sides the last time would be looked on as a disappointment by both sides although at least we looked like, on paper at least, we might be spared the comedy defending that dogged our last visit to shellsuit land. Or so you'd have thought but a combination of miserable dreich weather and a Saints midfield contesting for the Mr Invisibility 2007 awards meant that it was more of the same disappointing fare that had been served up in recent weeks - except this time we were up against an average Meadowbank side that were willing to actually run with the ball occasionally - never mind stick it in the back of the bloody net. Unfortunately any movements Owen now makes in the transfer window look more like building for next season - it's safe to say we can just write this one off given the attitude shown by the players when they went behind this afternoon.

Kevin James was still out with his knee injury while Mad Mental Martin and Jason had barely trained all week and were the subject of late fitness tests. As it was the latter two made the side but Savo was the man to miss out while McLaren dropped back to the bench as Hardie rejoined our wonderful midfield. Peaso was given the starting jersey up front while Steven Doris was called up to make up the numbers on the bench.

With a decent travelling support albeit a much reduced one since our last visit, Saint started playing against the howling swirling gale which combined with a constant downpour made you wonder if the game was even going to reach a conclusion - mind you with a referee as incompetent as Mr Underhill in charge nothing was certain. Hardie started up front alongside Peaso with Jason out wide on the right but the opening stages hardly saw any real football being played with both sides keeping the ball in the air and being caught out by the wind. We did manage to force the first corner after Sheerin released Peaso to force a deflection, but the set piece only ended up with Pamela's header being blocked. Saints generally looked far too slow on and off the ball with Livi matching and beating us for pace especially in the middle of the park where the likes of McInnes and Mensing were having a pretty crappy time of it although it has to be said that the former for a holding midfielder, is especially poor at either winning or distributing the ball.

Given they had the wind behind them it wasn't really a surprise that the home side were trying shots from all over the park. A 7th minute freekick saw a long-range shot sail over the bar but then four minutes later McInnes gave the ball away and it took a good Lawrie stop to prevent the breakaway. Two minutes after that though we went behind as again Livi pressed up the park and the Saints midfield stood off them. Mackay had been given far too much room and with Sheerin dropping off him, decided to let rip from about 22 yards our with a low curling shot that beat the defence and just beat a diving Kevin Cuthbert to land in the back of the net. You could see the heads drop and there was a worrying lack of leadership on the park with little communication or movement off the ball. Saints were unable to control the ball properly and even Jason who had gone up front and seemed to be the only white shirt able to show a degree of skill given the conditions wasn't able to get any joy when he broke into the home area.

Livi almost doubled their lead in the 21st minute when McInnes conceded a soft freekick. The ball was floated in the area and although the Cat caught it cleanly enough he almost dropped it in front of a Livi striker. Saints hit back within a couple of minutes as a ball into the Livi box saw McInnes try a volley that went well wide.

A minute later though good work from Jason saw him unable to make any room for a shot and the ball was eventually half-cleared. Nobody in the Saints support expected anything but the ball came out and landed at the feet of Andy Lawrie and from fully 35 yards out he fired in an absolute rocket of a shot that barely left the ground between leaving his foot and hitting the back of the net. Totally unexpected and an absolute cracker of a goal.

After that Saints began to look a bit sharper and more organised with some flowing passing moves returning to our play. We forced a couple of corners but didn't threaten that much. Lawrie fired a couple of good crosses into the box on the half-hour mark but one was cleared and the other held by the keeper. A minute later and Sheerin released Peaso into the box but his shot was ruled offside. Then Hardie had a decent run towards the box terminated as he was upended - not that the referee was interested in the slightest. It was a home player that was first in the book as Livi's number 10 Smylie picked up a yellow card after the referee spotted an altercation off the ball between him and McInnes - although if it had been some sort of violent conduct you'd have expected a straight red to be shown.

Saints kept the pressure up as the half drew to a close without really creating any clearcut chances. Another Sheerin corner saw McManus and Ando have half-shots blocked then another corner five minutes from the break saw Lawrie put a powerful header wide. The half ended with Livi still trying to capitalise on the wind advantage but the Saints defence eventually cleared their corner.

A change of shirt at the interval saw Saints turn into real hard men as they took the field in short-sleeve tops after the break. And with the wind behind them we fully expected to see a lot more pressure and goals from the boys. Pity Saints were back to their usual crappy selves then. We did come close two minutes after the restart when Jason showed some dogged determination to take the ball to the byeline before cutting it back for Peaso but the Saints striker somehow sclaffed his shot over the bar although it took a deflection en route. The corner broke out to McInnes who sent it back in for McManus in the box. For some reason though the Saints skipper dallied over the ball like he had all the time in the world (all the more annoying given his goalscoring finish a couple of games ago) and the defence eventually cleared the danger. Scotland saw a decent run end after a blatant tug from McPake, but as usual the referee favoured the home side.

And there was a further kick in the teeth when Livi broke up the park a minute later. The ball was hit over into the Saints box and that was the cue for the Return of the Keystone Kops as the clowns in the Saints defence reverted to type with a complete inability to kick the wee white sphere away from the goal. A slip by McManus and a half-clearance by Mensing wasn't enough and Craig pounced to shoot the ball round and into the net with the Cat again having no real chance. Of course after that Meadowbank went straight into timewasting mode and tried to kill the dead. To be honest though the Saints heads had gone down and with the referee favouring the home side more and more as Scotland and Hardie were kicked all over the park we looked dead and buried. As it was Livi had the better chances with a Walker shot deflected wide by McManus and from the resulting corner another free header looped just wide of the post.

For Saints the best we could offer was a snapshot from Mensing on the hour mark that went wide of goal with too often the Saints players unable to make or find room to get a decent shot in. Even Sheerin was unable to get much joy from wind-assisted inswinging corners that rarely threatened the goal. Peaso was replaced by Andy Jackson to little effect in the 66th minute. A minute later McInnes tried to chip a freekick into the box but again Hardie was far too slow to get to the ball and it went harmlessly wide. We had a couple of decent corners in the 69th minute with the first one from Sheerin caught nicely in the wind and headed off the line and then the second headed goalwards by Mensing but again cleared although there were strong claims for handball. The game had become pretty scrappy and the worsening conditions didn't help.

Goran went off in the 73rd minute to be replaced surprisingly by Wullie McLaren as Owen opted to leave us wide open on the left at the back. To be fair Goran had picked up a couple of knocks in the first half so may have been struggling but surely Dyer would have been a better choice as replacement? Anyway it was to be the killer blow as first in the 76th minute Livi broke down the right only for Anderson to brilliantly block a long-range shot. Then three minutes later after a Sheerin freekick had gone straight to the keeper they again broke down the right side and with the defence posted missing the ball found sub Teggert who hit a good drive past Cuthbert to make it 3-1. You could see the title chances vanish into the rain....

Saints tried to get back but really our hearts weren't in it. Scotland and Mensing combined to set up Sheerin but his strange choice of a chip shot (especially given the strong wind) went well wide of goal. Hardie, who had spent most of the game whinging to the referee went off to be replaced by Doris for the last ten minutes. Jackson did break through with four minutes to go but despite being held he kept his feet to see his shot deflected wide - needless to say the corner was wasted. But with a minute to go we pulled one back after another corner was half-cleared and then broke to McLaren on the left inside the box and he hit a cracking low drive to give those Saints fans left in the ground something to cheer about. Even then we could have squared things in injury time after Mensing picked up a soft booking. Scotland had another good run to win a corner on the right and from it the ball came back out to Sheerin but his final shot was blocked and cleared - it was that sort of day.

MoM for me was a close affair with Jason, Ando and Cuthbert doing well in the conditions. But purely for getting a candidate for goal of the season and giving us some hope, it goes to Andy Lawrie. As for the rest the entire midfield was poor most of the game, McManus is no leader and was caught out several times for pace and we are badly lacking in skill, vision and hunger throughout the team. Coyle has escaped a lot of criticism thanks to the late winners but today time ran out on our league campaign and the lack of improvement in the squad over the transfer window (McInnes isn't fit to lace Sheridan's boots) is a real worry - especially if we have to build for next year.

Safe to say it's going to be a slow death for the rest of the season.....

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