Temple Of Saints - An Improvement

Bells League Division One 12/08/2006

Queen of the South 0 Saints 1 League Table Here

Team : Halliwell, Lawrie, Stanic, McManus, Rustybitz, James, Mensing, Sheridan, Hardie, Scotland, Sheerinho
Subs : Cuthbert, Stevenson, Savo, Peaso, Young

The first away trip of the campaign gave Saints a chance to give their aspirations a boost against the league's only part-time side albeit one which Ian McCall had made improvements on towards the end of the previous season. Of course this was also the same mob that won convincingly in the cup in midweek against Clyde - something we'd failed to do in our league opener. But still, hopes were fairly high of heading back up the road with at least something to show for the afternoon's work - Gretna's humping had proved that miracles can sometimes happen in football. There was also the added incentive to getting a win here - it might help get rid of the memories of our last visit still left a bad taste in the mouth with red cards galore and Kevin James spectacular own goal.

In the end, we stuck to tradition and had some nervous moments in defence. But we kept a clean sheet and put one away at the other end although with a bit more work in front of goal the winning margin would have been a lot more convincing. The points didn't come without some consequences though, with Rustybitz limping off late on and Hardie and Sheridan picking up knocks.

Sheridan and James had sat out the East Fife game with injuries but managed to train towards the end of the week. With Savo firing another blank in midweek there had been talk of Peaso getting his first start in donkeys up front. As it was, the two injury victims returned to the starting lineup with Owen going for a front pairing of Jason and Mad Mental Martin. That left Peaso on the bench where he was joined by Savo, Ryan Stevenson and Derek Young. From the start Saints lookout scrappy with the ball spending more time in the air than on the deck. Queens pressed in the opening stages but the Saints defence with Kevin James in the thick of the action rarely looked threatened. Despite that, there was an expectation in the Saints support of something better from the players on the park. The first real chance came in the 7th minute when Jason broke through (with only a slight suspicion of handball) but his angled shot from inside the box went well behind.

We didn't have long to wait on a goal though. Ten minutes gone and some good work on the left touchline saw Sheerinho get to the byeline before sending over a perfect cross which was met by the head of Mensing who headed the ball past Corr in the home goal to give us the lead. The midfielder was involved in our next chance four minutes later getting on the end of a Sheridan cross but also getting tangled up with the home keeper. Queen of the South made some chances of their own as well latching onto a loose Scotland ball in the 16th minute and setting up O'Connor with a long ball but as ever James was there to head the ball back to Halliwell. Paton came close with a header wide of target a minute later and then a break through Burns beat James but the Saints skipper recovered in time to make a saving block.

Darren Sheridan picked up the first booking for a late challenge although the home fans weren't pleased with the referee as Graeme Weir joined him in the book for dissent with Lauchlan becoming the third carded player for an attempt at improving his fashion sense by trying to nick Jason's shirt. Sheridan took the freekick which was put wide by Mensing at the back post. The game wasn't the prettiest and lacked in both goalmouth action and entertainment. Saints were settling for the long ball game which bypassed the midfield, with the wing-backs rarely involved. There was some controversy though with Weir involved again as he went in late on Halliwell after the Saints keeper caught a long ball. Bryn recovered after some treatment while Weir was lucky to escape with a warning from the referee.

Saints next chance came from another long (surprise, surprise) cross from Goran which found Mad Mental Martin unmarked at the back post but his header went wide of target. Back up the other end, the home side won another freekick as Weir again ended up on his backside after a James challenge. The ball ended up with Scally But his shot was blocked. They came closer to getting an equaliser in the 31st minute when Weir was involved in a neat one-two which split open the Saints defence. The final shot was a weak one but went just wide of Bryn's post. The first half wound down with the some niggly challenges preventing any flowing play. Saints enjoyed more possession and threatened more with Sheerinho seeing a shot blocked, Jason sending one wide and a good move linking Lawrie and Jason set up Hardie in the box, but Corr came out to save at his feet.

The second period began in much the same way but Saints had more pressure with Hardie and Jason having early chances. The game soon degenerated into a midfield battle with neither team able to show much in the way of creativity. There was little goalmouth action until the 65th minute when Queen of the South threatened Saints area. It took several attempts before the Saints defence cleared the danger although that soon turned into attack. A break through the midfield saw the ball spread wide to Goran and he fired in a cross that was met by a diving header from Martin Hardie but his effort went wide. Derek Young came on for Sheerin in the 69th minute to beef up the midfield. With the home side getting more and more desperate in the hunt for a goal, Saints were looking a lot more dangerous on the break. with twenty minutes to go, Hardie headed the ball on for Jason who beat the offside trap but unfortunately shot over.

There was more controversy a couple of minutes later with McManus picking up a booking for a rash challenge (although for a minute it looked like Rustybitz was on the receiving end of the referee's wrath). And a minute later Rustybitz picked up a deserved booking for a late challenge near the corner flag which also left him needing some treatment for what looked like an ankle injury. The freekick was floated into the box but Bryn eventually held it before sending a long ball forward for Jason who turned and shot in the box but his effort was tipped wide. Rutkiewicz limped off to be replaced by Savo Milne as Saints switched to a more orthodox 4-4-2 with Young moving to the left side of midfield. O'Connor picked up a booking for the home side for a foul on Sheridan as the pace picked up for the final ten minutes or so. Saints were restricted to long ball breaks but neither Savo nor Jason could turn them into shots while the Doonhamers were sending plenty of balls into the heart of the Saints defence which James and McManus were mopping up. They did come close to snatching a goal in the 83rd minute when a freekick aimed into the box wasn't cleared by the Saints defence and Burns at the back post was left with plenty of space for a shot - which he duly stuck well wide of the goal.

Mensing had a decent shot across the goal blocked and Lawrie saw a long-range attempt go over. But at the end of normal time the home side's chances all but disappeared as they were reduced to ten men. A long ball from James found Savo breaking through the middle of the Queens defence. Cue Jim Lauchlan to have another go at improving his fashion sense by trying to get a Saints shirt to wear leaving Savo down on the edge of the box and the referee with no choice but to show the ex-Utd man the red card, met with traditional sportsmanlike cheers from the Saints support. After some delay Goran took the freekick but failed to beat the wall. A 95th minute Derek Young effort went over the bar to end the action - summing up the quality of play over the afternoon.

It was going to be a difficult ground to take anything from but we probably deserved the three points. Defensively we looked a lot better than last weekend with Kevin James my Man of the Match and in midfield had plenty of the ball but struggled to turn it into attacks. Up front it has to be said that Martin Hardie is no striker although he put in a good shift today. The other worry though has to be the lack of support from Lawrie on the right who hardly put a cross in or beat his man all afternoon - although Goran's efforts as always made up for this. Saints are still lacking that killer instinct but there are signs we're improving each week.

At least we didn't stick the ball in our own net this time!!

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