Saints 3 Raith Rovers 1 (after extra time)
Team : Cuthbert, Pamela, Dyer, Mensing, McManus, James,
Stevenson, Young, Savo, Peaso, Sheerinho
Subs : Halliwell, Coyle, Lawrie, Moon, Doris
After a couple of games which, although we came out as victors, we weren't exactly overly convincing in the manner by which we won, tonight's game was another chance for Saints to show they could entertain as well as win. The opposition might have been tougher for this regionalised competition, than we faced last week, but Raith are no Real Madrid and Saints were clear favourites to progress to the next round. Well, we did make it in the end, but we had to work bloody hard for it although a refereeing performance so incompetent it was almost Dallasesque. But some credit has to go to the ten Saints players that finished the game and won through after Ryan Stevenson was shown a straight red.
After the win at Palmerston, we were expecting changes to the side, not least due to Rustybitz injury and the availability of Darren Sheridan for midweek matches. As it was, Owen was willing to give some of the fringe players a run out with starting jerseys for both Peaso and Derek Young, while Jason, Hardie, Stanic and Sheridan were all rested with Lawrie and Halliwell dropping to the bench.
The game got under way in front of a decent crowd but with Saints intent on reliving the shambles of last week. Even a switch to a 4-4-2 didn't help with the marking in midfield non-existent. The big difference this week was that this time, the opposition punished us. Seven minutes gone and a Raith break found McManus posted missing and left One through in the box where he beat off the challenge of Pamela to chip the ball past the Cat.
So it was sleeves up for those blue shirts that could be bothered. First up was a rare Stevenson appearance on the byeline where his overhead cutback was volleyed straight at the keeper by Young. Delboy had another go a minute later with a turn and low shot just wide of goal. Sheerinho saw a shot go over after good linking play involving his Wizardness, Savo and Stevenson. He came even closer in the 18th minute when, after some good build-up play, he let rip with a long-range rocket which came back off the Raith crossbar. Delboy Young had another low shot deflected wide after a poor punch by the keeper. Then in the 24th minute we got our deserved reward. A corner was floated over by Sheerinho and only half-cleared back to his Magic Feet. A second powerful cross was sent into the crowded box where Savo headed it down and into the net.
Saints were making most of the chances but the Raith defence with the physical presence of ex-Saints Campbell and Fozzy were blocking most of them (well either that or they were hacking away at Savo and Peaso). Still the chances kept on coming with Sheerinho hitting a chip just wide then Savo beating the offside trap to go through 1-on-1 but overran the ball and had to square back to Stevenson who somehow sclaffed the ball over when it seemed easier to score. Raith were limited to a few cross balls before the break which rarely threatened although the Saints defence looked nervous at times - a Cuthbert punch for Anderson to clear rattled the nerves a bit. But the first hint of the referee's incompetence was also highlighted before the break. Willie Dyer won the ball off the Raith no10 but with the pair of them tangled up on the ground the Rovers man kicked the Saints player in the head. Sheerinho waded in joined by Harty - both w re warned by the referee who then enraged the Saints fans by ignoring the original incident. Even more pathetically the Raith no 2 then threw the ball away and wasn't even shown a card.
We should have guessed what would happen. So it was that Sheerinho was the first name in the book five minutes from the break for another clash with "Sicknote" Harty which the ex-Hamilton treatment room squatter made the most of. The freekick into the box saw Harty dive but amazingly he also escaped the referee's wrath. The ball broke to another Rover who tried his luck with a long-range shot that Cuthbert brilliantly tipped over.
The second-half began in much the same way with Saints pressing but unable to show the sort of creativity in front of goal. Young had a header go wide and then a Saints break ten minutes into the half saw Savo set up Peaso on a great run into the box but his angled shot went across the goal and wide. The game was fairly hectic though and no doubt the BBC pundits were enjoying themselves. Saints cause wasn't helped when skipper Kevin James had to limp off for treatment to a back injury. Peaso, who had had a pretty poor night of it was replaced on the hour mark by teenager Steven Doris. A minute later a long ball from McManus found Delboy who turned and tried to find Savo but his shot in the box was blocked. As the game wore on we kept on missing chance after chance with James seeing one header go wide and another go over while at the other end Raith were still restricted to potshots or long balls into the box which rarely caused any panic as the Saints defence began to look more and more settled (especially once One went off). Anderson was coming into the game more and more on the right wing while Mensing was enjoying a much freer role in the centre of midfield.
With 14 minutes to go Doris was hacked down again on the right although at least we got the freekick this time from a referee who seemed determined to keep his cards in his pocket (oh how wrong could we be). Sheerinho wasted that one but two minutes later came a lot closer with a cracking shot from the edge of the box after Savo had been brought down. Two minutes after that Doris showed some good pace on the right to get to the byeline and send a low cross into the area which Savo and Delboy both managed to miss.
But with six minutes remaining the game blew up. Stevenson went in heavily for a challenge with a couple of Raith players. They reacted and Stevenson was a complete idiot in raising his hands. However with Mensing and McManus coming into the scuffle Fozzy also raised his hands. Unfortunately the ref was having nothing to do with it and showed Ryan a straight red card. McManus picked up a yellow and Mensing (who actually looked to have pushed the ref at one point) joined him in the book. It was only then, with the Saints fans up in arms that the linesman eventually spoke to the referee with the result that after plenty of discussion Fozzy escaped with merely a booking - although why he wasn't shown a second for kicking the ball away two minutes later beats me. Strangely enough Saints sparked into life a bit with Savo dropping back to sit more in front of the midfield leaving Doris up front. As it was we were never really threatened as normal time drew to a close.
With the Saints fans a lot more vocal going into extra-time there was a real grit and determination about the ten men. Delboy didn't last too long though and his tired legs were replaced by the fresh young ones of Kevin Moon with just a couple of minutes played. Raith tried a cross that the Cat held but with five minutes gone, Saints broke up the park. Doris again showed some good skill on the wing to hold onto a long ball and force a corner. The ball broke back once more to Sheerinho and another strong cross across the goal this time was met by the head of Le Freak and he bulleted the ball off his bonce into the net apparently via the post. 2-1 up and now it was game on with Raith starting to show their true colours as Dyer and Savo came in for some heavy challenges with the latter showing some good temperament not to retaliate.
The game was pretty even as both teams began to tire but there was no real goalmouth action with a lot of the fight looking to have deserted Raith as time began to run out. Of course Saints couldn't make it easy for themselves and bad luck hit us again when Doris limped off injured just before the break with what looked like an ankle knock.
That meant the second period of extra-time saw OC himself take the field although it was Raith that were the first to threaten with a break through the middle that saw McManus and Anderson struggle to clear their lines. But with eight minutes to go we finally wrapped things up with a lovely ball from Owen over the defence for the knackered Savo to run onto. That he duly did and fired in a cracking shot from 12 yards out past the keeper into the back of the net to make it 3-1. Saints began to relax and actually play some decent football with Savo trying to return the favour to Owen a couple of minutes later but Owen's legs deserted him and he shot well wide. Raith tried to get back into it but their best efforts were a couple of long-range shots that didn't give the Cat too much trouble.
There's no doubt that the cheers at full-time had more than a hint of relief about them. But it has to be remembered that it was almost a reserve side out tonight and they deserved the win. Not many bad points though with Stevenson's stupidity not exactly helping his chances of regaining a first team slot and Peaso having a poor game. Plenty of pluses though with Savo taking his goals well and good performances from Dyer, Doris and Anderson while Sheerinho looked to have returned to form. MoM for me though was Simon Mensing who apart from one wee burst of temper had a great game in the centre of midfield.
And of course we're still in two cups more than Scumdee!!!!
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