Temple Of Saints - A Bloody Disgrace

Bells League Division One 13/03/2007

Partick 2 Saints 0 League Table Here

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

So with no away wins in the league since the days when Dick Campbell had hair, and the gap on the Village People still pretty large thanks to Ludovic Roy and his Scumdee teammates failing to stop goals at the weekend, there was more than a bit of pressure on Saints tonight. This was the last chance to take advantage of the game in hand scenario to narrow the gap a bit more and keep the title hopes alive a little bit longer. Of course it helped that we were playing at Firhill, a ground we've had plenty of fun and goals at in previous years. And added to that the memories of the theatrical win on Saturday were still fresh in the mind and Dick had even brought along a new bunnet for his latest performance of that great tragi-comedy Dugout Tantrums (appearing at a ground near you soon). Unfortunately in the end the tragedy was all at the away end as we again witnessed a Saints side lacking in passion, motivation and the slightest glimpse of ability. No doubt the referee's shambolic display in the middle of the park which led to a red card for us and a questionable second goal for Thistle will be talked about (more than likely by Owen Coyle) but the bare facts can't be hidden that Saints are simply not good enough. Too many of the current side have either bought into the cup runs as making us invincible or else have contributed so little in recent weeks that you have to wonder what blackmail evidence they have over the manager to be guaranteed a starting jersey. Partick were certainly better than the weekend but as we've seen too often this season Saints have only themselves to blame for the end result and just as importantly the soft, shitty way we dropped the points.

Kevin James was the big worry after his hamstring pull towards the end of the game on Saturday which left us down to ten men and along with Peaso he'd been all but ruled out by Oweny yesterday, while Jacko and Wullie were also suffering from the traditional mystery virus that seems to plague football grounds these days. By kick-off though, Peaso had recovered to start although the other three were missing. In came Pamela at the back for James while Wullie Dyer got his chance on the bench in place of his namesake. Other than that it was the usual faces although there was the slight hope that Owen might have managed to kick some arses after the weekend snorefest.

So much for the managerial motivation as Saints simply weren't at the races in the opening stages. As early as the first minute Gibson had cut in for a shot which the Cat did well to turn out for a corner but which also opened up a heap of questions about the marking in the area from the restructured Saints defence. The corner thankfully didn't manage to threaten the Saints goal any further as the ball was headed wide. Brown Ferguson sent a long range effort wide a couple of minute later before we managed to get the ball into the box courtesy of a Filipe cross - needless to say there were no takers in what was to be the story of the night for the Jason and Peaso partnership.

Saints had rarely threatened but in defence we looked far too nervy. Ten minutes in and a Partick attack saw McManus miss the ball completely and it took a quick reaction from Anderson to clear the danger. But again the clearance failed to find a blue shirt and within a minute we were duly punished. A Mensing miskick was crossed into the box and Ando put it behind for a corner. In came the cross and again the Saints defence failed to clear the danger with the absence of Kevin James keenly felt. Mensing and Pamela tried to head the ball clear but Partick were winning everything in the air and the ball fell back down for Morrow who shot just over the line for the opening goal despite the Saints defence's attempts to clear the ball. Another one of those soft, stupid goals which again came about because of basic errors and slack play in defence. No doubt the manager will give his usual complaints about it but it's time these sort of mistakes were sorted out.

In terms of trying to get back into the game Morais was causing the most problems for the Partick defence with a series of crosses but every single time the ball went too deep - not that there were any takers in blue as Jason and Peaso continued their lethargic approach to their play. Back in defence and the mix-ups continued to cause panic attacks amongst the disgruntled Saints support behind the Cat's goal and it wasn't until the 19th minute that we even came close to threatening the home goal. A long ball found Jason on the right and he set up Filipe who cut in and had a shot. That was blocked but fell for Sheerin who in a rare moment of competence over the ninety minutes managed to hit the ball goalwards. Again it was blocked but rebounded into the path of Peaso and from what looked like about six yards out he managed to blast the ball a mile over the bar.

The clouds of gloom grew a little bit darker and the representative from the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Bunnets knew he was going to be in for an easy night. Of course it wouldn't be a crucial defeat and a shambolic performance from Saints without a wee bit of refereeing controversy and Crawford Allan gave note of what was to come in the 21st minute when he dished out the first yellow card of the evening to Pamela for a tackle from behind despite the Saints player clearly winning the ball. Not too bad in itself but time and again there was a complete lack of consistency as Partick players committing a similar offence found themselves unlucky if they were warned. Still it didn't excuse some of the lack of discipline from certain members of the Saints squad with McInnes seemingly doing nothing all night but moan at the referee - certainly he wasn't doing much running about on the park for the cause.

With Saints looking shaky the Cat was again called into action in the 23rd minute. McInnes lost the ball in the middle of the park and Fissel sent the ball into the box where again the defence failed to clear the danger and the Cat pulled off a great double save from a header and shot to keep the score slightly more respectable. I'd like to say we were causing similar problems at the other end but there was a complete lack of movement off the ball from Saints and we were second to everything. Jason looked well off the pace unable to turn his man once while Peaso simply doesn't have the pace required for the sort of game Owen seems to want to play, especially when the Saints midfield seems unwilling to get forward in any sort of numbers to support the strikers. Morais tried but not once did he show the sort of pace to beat his man while on the other flank Sheerin seemed to be more intent on drifting in towards the middle of the park leaving the left wing wide open, while Hardie was a pale shadow of the midfielder we saw on Saturday - typified by his foul on a defender when a Sheerin freekick was played into him in the 34th minute.

Seven minutes from the break we came as close as we would all night to scoring one of those goal things you used to see us do all the time at Firhill. A simple through ball reached Jason and he broke through one on one with the keeper but seemed undecided what to do and with a defender closing in he ended up shooting straight at Tuffey. A minute later and Scotland turned provider setting up Morais on the right wing and his cross was headed across goal by Sheerin at the near post (when he's usually sitting at the far post) for no takers. Next up Mensing headed a Partick ball clear for Filipe to go on a run up most of the park on the right wing before cutting inside only to shoot just wide. The half ended on a sour note for Saints fans after a very late challenge by Morrow on Morais saw the Partick striker escape with just a warning which given Pamela's booking stuck in the throat a bit. But that didn't hide how poor we had been and the expectation was there for Owen to pull a rabbit out of his own bunnet and turn things round after the break.

Pity he failed miserably then. Within a minute or so of the restart, it was more of the same with a poor Scotland pass for Hardie in the box ending in the ball not reaching Mad Mental Martin although his lack of movement was just as infuriating. Five minutes gone and Jason had a decent run end in being hauled off the ball - he recovered enough for a shot which was blocked for Peaso only for the Saints striker to be ruled offside. Mensing next fed Morais who fired in a much more effective cross which was headed clear as the lack of height in the Saints forward line was more than apparent. Peaso had a run himself in the 54th minute but was tackled before he could shoot and then a long ball found Jason who decided to play a game of greedy buggers before shooting wide of target.

That was enough for Owen and the desperation was plain as he made a double substitution in the 57th minute with Jason and Peaso making way for Lilley and Savo. Within a minute that almost paid off as a Morais cross was only just headed clear as Lilley rose to challenge. Next up was Savo who found himself in space on the left side and sent a great cutback across the goal for Morais who fired in a brilliant volley which was deflected for a corner.

But just as it seemed we might be making some inroads into the sort of miraculous comeback we've not seen since the days of Dundee coming back from bankruptcy, Saints decided to not just shoot themselves in the foot but unload a complete AK47 magazine's worth all over the leg. A simple Partick clearance and in went Ando on Derek Crybaby Young. Unfortunately for the Saints defender his feed were above ankle height and therefore Young went down, over went Mr Allan and out came the cards - yellow then red. Down to ten men and you could almost here the laughter from the Village People. Tactically Owen pulled Sheerin back to left back while Stanic moved into the middle but from the resulting freekick we almost went two down as Partick forced space in the box and fired a shot off the crossbar.

We tried to hit back and Lilley, who was winning his fair share in the air, set up Savo for a decent shot which went straight at the keeper. Then Morais down the right wing found space before sending over a good cross to the back post for Savo who sent an angled drive across the goalmouth. Partick hit back and a long ball found Sheerin and Stanic in a major mix-up before the Cat came to the rescue with an excellent block for a corner which he held comfortably. Partick had begun some timewasting but it wasn't really needed as with 19 minutes still remaining, they doubled their lead although it was a fairly controversial goal. A break down the right had seen Morais stand off his man rather than do anything rash like put a tackle in, with the Cat forced to come out to block the eventual shot for a corner. That was floated in, headed on and with the Cat seemingly impeded on the line headed in by Keogh with the Saints dugout and support in uproar at the decision.

After that we simply gave up. Sure some of the players tried with Stanic, Savo and Lilley doing their best but too many of the players wearing blue began to let their anger show rather than direct it in their play. Mensing picked up a booking for a late foul while McInnes was warned for dissent. McManus picked up a booking with ten minutes to go for an alleged elbow on a Partick player although one of the home side took it upon himself to retaliate and after a minor scuffle found himself in the referee's book although it did show a strange unwillingness on the referee's part to dish out the red card he was more than happy to use on Pamela. Just as infuriating was the decision to award Saints a freekick for a foul on Savo after Partick substitute Russell had fouled him from behind. Again no card was shown which was in contrast to the booking for Anderson in the first half. On such decisions are titles won and lost.

The football in the closing stages was pretty much non-existent. Lilley got onto a Morais cross but his header was blocked on the line and then three minutes from time McInnes had the audacity to play a forward ball with a cross in for Lilley. He got up to header it but when the ball fell loose nobody challenged or supported him. Sheerin rounded off our attacks with a long-range effort at the keeper in the final minute but it was the Cat who had the last piece of action with another good block from a one on one in injury time. Plenty of boos from the Saints fans at the final whistle as the Saints players trudged off the park.

MoM on the night had a few candidates with Mensing okay and Stanic decent but the Cat wins through for helping keep the score to a decent level. Other mentions can go to the subs with Savo looking a lot sharper and arguably worth a starting jersey now especially since Jason and Peaso are either not fit enough or else being a lazy git. As for the midfield if we're going to persist with a lack of creativity let's just stick with Mensing and Hardie in the middle who have at least had some success. McInnes is too slow and too negative and while Sheerin has been decent, he looks badly in need of a rest and perhaps it's time to start blooding the youngsters - God knows they couldn't be much worse than some of the crap we had to witness tonight.

Plenty of gloom tonight and no doubt plenty of ranting over the next few days, but if you want that wee glimmer of light on a dismal night - at least there shouldn't be any problem getting a semi-final ticket. Mind you it's going to be an important game by then so no doubt we'll blow it in spectacular fashion. It is the Saints way after all it seems.

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