Temple Of Saints - Saints Leave It Late

Bells League Division One 02/01/2007

Saints 2 Ross County 1 League Table Here

Team : Cuthbert, Lawrie, Stanic, Mensing, McManus, Pamela, Hardie, Sheerinho, Savo, Jason, McLaren
Subs : Halliwell, Peaso, Dobbie, Jackson, Dyer

With the luvvies at Firhill falling victim to a wee dose of the sniffles, this was Saints first action for a week and a chance for the fans to hopefully say a proper farewell to Darren Sheridan (Paul Lawson having already leapt through the exit door for that inevitable six months in the TFOE reserves). Ross County had at least been forced to play at the weekend so in theory the first game of 2007 would see Owen's boys looking a lot sharper - well given that the average age of the side is something like 52 now that might not be too great an advantage. There's no doubt that after a less-than- inspiring close win over the Broadwood neds on Boxing Day that better things were expected from the lads - especially with the excuses running out and the Gretna Dream opening up a big gap at the top of the league. And over the piece we possibly looked a bit sharper and certainly deserved the win (even if we again left it later than a Hogmanay Party call off). Of course there was a long spell when the team lost it's shape and we again passed up several gilt-edged chances to win by a far more convincing margin but at the end of it all the three points were more than welcome and hopefully mean we get a bit of a run going to keep the challenge alive.

The transfer window had barely opened a mere crack and we'd already been busy with Derek Tangoboy McInnes opting to savour the delights of the Perth suntan parlours for the next six months (either that or he was really scared of falling victim to the Partick Plague as it will no doubt be called one day) - unfortunately paperwork delays meant his debut went on ice. Another new face back at McDiarmid was Stephen "Slimfast" Dobbie fresh from his loan spell at Dumbarton. As it was the starting lineup showed little change with Kevin James missing and Darren Sheridan and Paul Lawson away. In came Ando at the back along with the recalled Lawrie as Saints went to a 4-4-2 formation. The lack of midfielders in the squad was more apparent when you looked at the bench with three strikers and a defender making up the outfield quota.

We started brightly enough with Andy Lawrie showing that he may have learnt something from being dropped on Boxing Day. The right-back linked well with Hardie on the right flank as early as the second minute for the latter to send a teasing cross into the box. It reached an unmarked Jason Scotland but his header was just wide of the goal when it seemed easier to score. Saints were passing the ball about well enough, although the final touch was poor.

Still the early pressure paid off in the tenth minute as we broke the deadlock in some style. A long ball from the Cat found Goran who laid it off to Jason and he turned brilliantly in the box to make room for the cross which, instead of blasting the ball across the area, he opted for a high chip to the back post where Simon Mensing rose up at the back post with a powerful header past Samson and into the roof of the net. The pressure kept up and the next chance came in the 14th minute when Hardie broke down the right and sent a nice cross over which was met by a Paul Sheerin volley that the defence blocked. Two minutes later Savo and Lawrie had crosses into the box before Wullie McLaren won the first corner of the game. Sheerinho's ball in was eventually headed over by Mensing.

The game died down a bit after that and although we were never really put under much pressure, you got the feeling that one goal was never going to be enough to seal the points. It wasn't helped by a referee who was far too whistle-happy and unwilling to play any advantage as well as some very dodgy offsides throughout the game. Ross County's only real chances came from some of these soft freekicks with Lawrie heading one clear in the 24th minute and another one a couple of minutes later seeing Cowie hit a curling ball around the wall but straight at Cuthbert. At the other end Jason had a good break into the box, but in the end settled for a corner - needless to say we did nothing from it.

The play overall was pretty scrappy by now although we were probably making the more clearcut chances. Scotland was fouled near the touchline in the 35th minute and from Sheerinho's freekick, the ball came over for Savo and he fired in a powerful header that Samson got down to hold. The closing stages of the first-half saw little in the way of chances for either side. Cuthbert had to look sharp to punch clear a County corner. Next up McKinlay had a blatant dive which saw the referee infuriate the home fans further by dishing out a warning to Martin Hardie. The freekick floated into the box and saw Lee Wilkie drop like a sack of spuds with the ball going out of play. But no the referee decided to play a drop ball once Wilkie had had treatment and in a wonderful show of sportsmanship, County tried to go for goal from it - in the end the ball was easily cleared and Saints broke up the park with a good flowing move that ended in Savo, Jason and Sheerinho all having shots blocked.

For a change Saints came out from a half-time talk and actually looked livelier than at the start of the game with plenty of chances at the start of the second-half. Of course that didn't happen until Higgins had almost threatened with a long-range attempt that went well wide of the Cat's goal. But two minutes into the half and a long ball from defence found Savo in plenty of room and he cut inside the County defence and tried a curling shot from just inside the box that Samson got down well to hold. A minute later and it was Scotland on the attack and his run into the box saw shots from him and Savo both blocked before McLaren set up Sheerinho for a drive that the defence did well to block.

Even then we didn't let up and should have taken a further lead in the 49th minute after McLaren was given plenty of room in the middle of the park. He went on a great run before setting up Savo who got behind the County defence and bore down on goal. Unfortunately, he seemed to overrun the ball and the eventual shot was tipped wide by Samson. Ross County came more into the game though and a poor clearance from McManus in the 52nd minute almost cost us dear as the opposition broke down the left with and sent a cross over for two white shirts in the box who were a mile offside. The flag stayed down though and while we waited on the goal the final shot was a weak one and the Cat turned it round the post. Even then the danger wasn't cleared and Lawrie had to look sharp at the resulting corner to head the ball clear.

Within a minute Owen had been forced to make his first change of the game as Martin Hardie limped off to be replaced by Andy Jackson who moved to the right midfield position with Mensing switching inside. The game had become more of a stop-start affair and things weren't helped when County equalised on the hour mark just as some of the stadium lights failed. Again it was a soft goal and again we lost our shape afterwards. This time the goal came when County pressed back after we'd given away the ball in the middle of the park. A simple cross into the middle saw Cowie rise up unchallenged to send a looping header over the Cat's head to make it 1-1 while most of the home fans were more worried about the lack of marking from McManus and Anderson.

The Saintees mood wasn't being helped much by some of the decisions by referee Scott MacDonald with Scotland and Savo both clattered several times but not winning a freekick. There was a feeling of panic in the Saints side following the goal and some good build-up play from McLaren setting up Scotland but he elected to pass to nobody in particular when it seemed simpler to shoot. That signalled McLaren's departure and in the 67th minute he was replaced by Wullie Dyer who moved to left-back with Goran pressing forward to midfield. There wasn't much to talk about in terms of action on the park with a Scotland freekick blocked by the wall and at the other end a long-range effort from County parried for a corner by the Cat. Owen's last throw of the dice came in the 73rd minute when Savo went off to be replaced by Peaso. Within a couple of minutes Peaso had gotten onto the end of a good Jackson run but instead of squaring the ball to some blue shirts in the middle, he went for a shot and sent the ball over the bar.

The game was starting to die down with County looking happy enough to settle for a point and Saints starting to run out of ideas with too much time spent thinking on the ball rather than getting it forward. Even when we did get the ball forward the referee was doing his best to spoil the game. Peaso was on the end of some rough attention from Wilkie but eventually won freekick in the 80th minute when he was chopped from behind at the edge of the box. Up stepped Sheerinho to give us some New Year Wizardry - unfortunately his magic hasn't quite kicked in yet and the ball sailed over the bar. Still we kept up the pressure as Saints to their credit chased the winner. Six minutes from time and a long freekick found Peaso who set up Jason in the box. He turned and squared the ball to Peaso in the 6yd box but his shot was somehow blocked. Even then the ball broke to Jackson but his shot was well held by Samson.

If that seemed to use up our luck, most of the remaining hope for a winner went a minute later. A great break by Goran saw him send a brilliant cross over to the back post where Andy Jackson rose up to send in a powerful downward header that Samson managed to block on the line. That was the cue for a last-ditch attempt for a winner from County and they forced a quick corner two minutes from time that ended in a header going just over the bar. Just when it seemed that all hope was lost, Jason won a corner in the final minute. The ball was sent in and only half-cleared to the unlikely candidate in Alan McManus who sent in a fantastic 15yd volley which blasted through the Dingwall defence and left Samson stranded before hitting the back of the net and causing no small amount of merriment in the East Stand. County tried but there was no way back for them even with the referee suddenly deciding that we were doing all the timewasting .

Overall it wasn't the best performance Saints have managed all season but there's no doubt that we deserved the win albeit by a better margin. There were some decent performances on the day as well with Stanic, Anderson and Sheerin at the heart of things by MoM for me goes to Andy Lawrie who showed a lot more of the attack-minded player we'd been promised in the summer. The midfield was poorly covered at times and there's no doubt Owen needs to badly strengthen this side of things and the strikers need to take their chances better but I think most of us would have taken this result before a ball was kicked.

At least we can relax and enjoy the cup now....

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