Temple Of Saints - Back to winning form

Bells League Division One 10/03/2007

Saints 2 Partick 0 League Table Here

Team : Cuthbert, Mensing, Goran, McInnes, McManus, James, Morais, Hardie, Peaso, Jason, Sheerin
Subs : Halliwell, Savo, Lilley, McLaren, Lawrie

After another away-trip debacle Saints returned to the Sacred Turf today for the first time in ages to take on our favourite whipping-boys in Uncle Fester's Wegie Luvvies. The knowledge that we'd blown the 3,546th chance of the season to make major inroads on The Village People's lead at the top of the table was still uppermost in most fan's minds - the feelgood factor from humping Motherwell in the cup hadn't hung around Perth too long this time. And with The Village People not making their trip to Scumdee until tomorrow it was a chance to at least get a guaranteed narrowing of the gap today - all we had to do for a change was return to the knack of banging in more than one goal and God forbid, actually defending on the halfway line instead of two inches in front of the Cat's gloves. Of course previous form against the Luvvies meant there was some cause for optimism - especially with today's encounter marking the first part of a double-header against the mob from Firhill and our reasonable goalscoring record against Partick counting in our favour. But football like most mistresses is a fickle creature and given the performances at Dingwall and Palmerston it's safe to say that confidence wasn't quite 100 percent at three o'clock. By 4.45 though, it had been slightly restored with one of the grinding performances that got the points on the board but provided little in the way of real entertainment outside of the two Saints goals and the comedy interlude of Dick Campbell and His Amazing Flying Bunnet. Owen will be happier though with a clean sheet and a bit more bite to Saints overall play, but there were still several players looking well below par on the afternoon

Martin Hardie's suspension was finally over so he was able to return to the Saints midfield. Other changes to the side saw Mensing drop back to the right-back slot in place of Lawrie who dropped to the bench while Filipe Morais got a start in place of Wullie who made up the subs while Anderson was dropped from the squad as Owen went for a completely attack-minded lineup. Conditions weren't great, with a swirling wind causing both sides plenty of problems and the McDiarmid surface suffering from a lack of the old green stuff in places. Added to that a pretty sparse away support and a muted home fans and it meant the game got underway in a pretty subdued atmosphere.

From kick-off Saints looked nervous and we just couldn't get going with the ball spending far too much time in the air and a pass reaching a blue shirt was more of a novelty than a part of the play. The midfield carried on from Dingwall with a tendency to play deep or try long high balls for Jason and Peaso but Boyd in the Partick defence meant that the high balls were easily dealt with. For their part there was no sign of the threat that they've shown in their previous games against us this season and Dick The Bunnet's side seemed more intent on hitting us on the counter instead. Filipe was at least showing some skill on the right wing but when he fired in his dangerous crosses, there were no takers in the middle of the park. There was a real apathy about our play in the opening stages and it wasn't until the eighth minute that we created anything of real significance.

Mensing and Mad Mental Martin linked up well to release Morais on the right wing and he cut inside before sending a low cutback across the goal that found no blue shirts but still went out for a corner which in turn was duly wasted. Hardie had a decent cross in and wasted a minute later but in the twelfth minute we took the lead with some cheeky play. Morais broke down the right wing again before laying the ball inside for Peaso and he had a run and played a neat chip over the Partick defence for Hardie who had made a brilliant run to beat the offside trap. He got behind the opposition defenders and stuck his head on the ball to put it into the net to make it 1-0, with the Partick players looking on in vain for an offside flag and Dick the Bunnet doing his "Mad As Hell" Dance on the touchline to entertain the folks in hospitality.

The goal seemed to relax us a bit but we again didn't look like capitalising on the effort or do much to go chasing a second with Jason and Peaso both looking well off the pace and McInnes in the middle of the park unwilling to hold onto the ball to distribute it. Sheerin had a rare run end in a deep cross going just behind the Partick goal but the game sparked into life when Morais was caught late by McChrystale in the 18th minute which earned the Fissel defender the first booking of the match. The freekick though, went straight out the park. Two minutes later and Partick tried to hit back with a long ball for Mark Roberts but instead of going for the chip, he hit the ball straight at the Cat. Even when the referee awarded them a soft freekick against McManus for allegedly climbing, Partick failed to take advantage with the set piece sent well wide of the Cat's domain.

With entertainment on the park looking pretty rank, it was left to Dick to demonstrate another of his many talents with his rendition of the Traditional Scottish Dance known as "Ranting and Raving at the Ref" which earned him some marks from the man in the middle. Just on the half-hour mark though the niggles started again on the park as Hardie broke to the goalline before being fouled by McChrystale. The referee let that go but Morais went in on the Partick defender who put on the sort of dying swan act that will guarantee him the warm-up spot when Dick The Bunnet takes his show to the West End, while Filipe picked up his third booking in as many games. The referee wasn't helping and there was a spell when he seemed to be whistling for any contact between the players.

In terms of action, the rest of the first-half was pretty poor. An almost- dangerous freekick from Partick on the edge of the box was kneed back by Mensing for the Cat. There was some good play from Saints though in the 37th minute with Mensing and Hardie linking well again to set up Filipe who sent a good cross over which Sheerin just missed getting his head onto. Partick were limited to a freekick against James (which also saw McInnes get his usual pre-half-time booking for breaking the wall early) - the ball went wide of goal again though. And the half was rounded off with Saints missing another decent chance after Filipe set up Jason. He got to the touchline and cut inside before laying the ball off to Filipe just inside the box. Morais for some reason decided against shooting and instead squared the ball to Peaso who was crowded out. The ball eventually came back for McInnes who shot well over the bar.

There was some hope of an improvement in the activities on the park in the second forty-five and indeed Saints got off to an excellent start. Three minutes into the half and Boyd had a shove on Peaso. The freekick was sent in from the left for James but he was beaten to the header by a Partick defender. But the ball came out only as far as the edge of the box and Mad Mental Martin was there to hit an amazing first-time volley which smashed into the net to make it two-nil. I suppose we can slag off the performances all we want but there's no doubt that this has been one of the better seasons for the quality of the goals we've seen from Saints. Of course there was the usual side-show just after we scored of Dick the Bunnet perfecting his Greeting Face act at the away dugout. Unfortunately Saints were guilty of sitting back again and failing to press home their advantage.

The strong wind we were playing against didn't help but at the same time Partick were causing us little in the way of problems at the other end of the park with a long-range shot by Brady the only attempt and that was miles wide of the goal. For Saints, the defence looked solid but again the midfield was being negative and we were not using the wings in the way we should have - although Sheerin was again having another poor game.

He wasn't the only one as Peaso didn't have the pace to create much up front and Jason just looked like he couldn't be arsed and to be honest, it wasn't much of a surprise to see Scotland hooked in the 55th minute to be replaced by Derek Lilley. The fouls against Saints players kept coming though and a minute later Keogh was next in the book for another nasty challenge on Filipe. But even with these chances, we rarely threatened the Partick goal while they were limited to a single shot.

McInnes went off in the 64th minute to be replaced by Lawrie who moved to the right-back slot as Mensing moved up to the centre of midfield alongside Mad Mental Martin. This had the effect of livening up the midfield and with Mensing's more attacking style, we began to create a bit more and press forward. Morais wasted a freekick from the edge of the box after Peaso was fouled. Mensing had a run into the box just after that only to see his shot apparently handled by a Fissel defender but the referee waived play on. Archibald was warned for a heavy challenge on Peaso with twenty minutes to go and Owen played his last card as Savo came on for Peaso.

But five minutes later with the action on the park set to be sold on DVD as a new cure for insomnia, Dick the Bunnet pulled out his piece de resistance and the finale to his comedy masterpiece. I'd like to say it resulted from a major piece of controversy but nope Partick lost a throw-in decision. A bloody throw-in. Up gets Dick and before you know it he's at the edge of the technical area doing another Shakespearean Rant at the referee. Over steps the official and Dick goes into Overdrive as the Sacred Bunnet comes off and is dashed to the ground with the sort of anger and passion that you'd rarely see outside an Oscar-winning performance. To be fair the ref was more than able to match this and off went Dickie boy to the stand where we had the grand finale as he deliberately folded his arms as the East Stand requested a Wave from the Partick manager - the sort of diva like behaviour you'll never find in the SPL!!!!

The game itself was in the final death throes now although Saints began to threaten a bit more without really troubling the keeper. Boyd picked up a booking for a cynical foul as Goran went on a run while at the other end James was called into action to block a shot as Partick broke up the park. Ex-Saints player John Robertson picked up a booking as Morais fell victim to Partick tactics with 10 minutes to go. In terms of shots though we had a weak effort easily held from Savo and then six minutes from time James pulled up with what looked like a worrying thigh strain although he was able to carry on albeit up front and without the ability to use either leg, while Lilley dropped to midfield and Mensing back to defence. Partick tried to make the one-man advantage count and the Cat was finally called into action a minute later to tip a long-range shot over the bar. The corner came to nothing.

Not the best of games but I think we'd have taken the scoreline if offered it before kick-off. The side still lacked energy in places with McInnes, Jason and Sheerin all poor. MoM has to go to Hardie for providing some cracking goals although Dickie-Boy Campbell (and his magic bunnet) would be in the running as well. For the rest Morais had a decent game but has to start watching his temper especially given he's going to be picked out by the opposition. Mensing looked better when he went to midfield but there will be a real worry over James for the "second-leg" on Tuesday night.

Still at least it's back to winning form....

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