Temple Of Saints - Saints let points slip

Bells League Division One 03/03/2007

Ross Co 1 Saints 1 League Table Here

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

With the TV jinx finally laid well and truly to rest after the victory over the Buckfast Boyz on Wednesday night, Saints had a chance to put another not-so-nice tradition out of the way today by keeping a winning run going after gubbing an SPL team. Memories of the doing we got at Airdrie post- Ibrox and the trip to Little Beirut to play the Scum a few weeks ago were still fresh in the mind. Still on the plus side, the trip to Dingwall is one of the nicer journeys we get to make during the season with County and their fans slightly more hospitable than their inferiors at Fir Park - hopefully Jason would make the back page for the right reasons rather than as part of another article on the neanderthal behaviour of some so-called fans. Hopes were high then that given the form of County and the tempting target of shutting Rowan Alexander up for another week as we tried to narrow the gap further, that we would make it down the A9 with all three points. In the end though County are a side scrapping for their survival in this league and it showed as they staged a gutsy second-half comeback for a share of the points as Saints tired and retreated into the sort of defensive shell that was just asking for trouble. And with a two-games-a- week schedule on the horizon, another worrying side of the performance for Owen to contemplate over the weekend is the lack of fight and sharpness shown by the players coming into the side with both McInnes and Lilley adding little to the side, the former lucky to stay on the park thanks to the inept performance by Mike Ritchie in the middle. Things will need to improve drastically if we're to make the most of the games in hand in the coming weeks

Of course you can't take on the thugs of Lanarkshire without picking up a few knocks and with plenty of games on the horizon, Owen wasn't taking any chances today. Martin Hardie missed out due to his ongoing disputes with the men in the middle which allowed McInnes to slot in as a straight replacement while on the bench the youngsters again made way for experience as Ando and Lilley returned after missing out due to suspension in the middle of the week in place of Jacko and Willie Dyer. No idea who it was that was carrying knocks in midweek but Owen seemed to think they'd be able to cope with the heavy narrow pitch at Victoria Park.

The game started brightly for Saints although the Cat was the first keeper called into action to come out and clear a long ball in the second minute. There was little sign of the neat passing play that we saw in midweek as Saints seemed more intent on keeping the ball in the air as much as possible. But after a slow start we began to piece some moves together and in the fourth minute Lawrie set up McLaren down the right wing and he neatly turned his marker before running into the box and trying his luck with an angled shot but the ball went well wide. The early pressure from Saints also saw Peaso clash with former clubmate Sean Webb with the County defender not scared to use the elbow on the Saints striker - although the referee decided to ignore the challenges which summed up his lack of control he would demonstrate over the ninety minutes.

The pressure from Saints did pay off though and in the sixth minute we took the lead with a cracking goal. A Lawrie throw-in from the right was long into the box before being headed behind for a corner. Sheerinho sent the ball in and it fell sweetly for Peaso near the back post and he sent a cracking drive into the net to give us an early lead. Two minutes later and we almost doubled the lead with another long throw from Andy Lawrie this time finding James whose goalward header was cleared off the line for another corner. The ball came back in and another James header was cleared - there was a bit of a pattern to our set pieces this afternoon as you might guess. Still we did try something a bit different in the twelfth minute with Peaso making a good run before sending a cross in which Wullie tried to convert with an overhead kick but the ball went across the goal instead with Mensing too slow to follow up.

County first threatened after Lawrie was penalised for a tackle on Shields but Mensing was on hand to head the ball clear. Saints were keeping up the pressure on the home defence which looked shaky at times. Jason was next to try his luck and his persistence at the byeline forced another throw-in from what seemed a lost cause. Again the long Lawrie throw-in came in and again it was targeted at Kevin James but this time his header was comfortably caught by the keeper. He launched an immediate counterattack with a long ball but the Cat was out to take the ball from the feet of the attacker. James had another header cleared off the line and McLaren set up Peaso for a shot but again it wasn't really powerful enough to test the keeper.

The overall game was becoming a pretty scrappy affair and Saints had a problem in the midfield with the central pairing of McInnes and Mensing not getting forward enough nor holding the ball up and using the wide men. McLaren and Sheerin both spent too much time dropping back to help out the defence and we generally looked jaded and off the pace. Even Goran was caught napping in the 27th minute and absolutely skinned on the wing. Mensing came out to help but they failed to clear the cross that came in for a free header from a County player that was just over the Cat's crossbar - the Saints keeper wasn't slow off the mark to explain to his defence his dissatisfaction with their actions to say the least. Of course being Saints it seemed that Andy Lawrie was on the receiving end of most of the anger with James especially bawling him out several times. We had another good chance a couple of minutes later after some good interplay from Scotland, Wullie and Peaso forced a corner. From that the ball bounced about the box before being eventually cleared as far as Goran. He sent a long ball back in the box which Peaso headed on for Jason in the box but his shot was well saved. We had other worries as well with Mensing picking up a knock as part of his defensive duties and limping about a bit although he eventually recovered.

County were hitting back more but the game was about to get a bit nastier. Lawrie did well in the 31st minute to get in and block a Robertson shot, but a minute later he was flattened by a flying elbow from Gardyne. Suffering from an obvious head knock, referee Ritchie didn't even stop play never mind award us the blatant freekick and punish Gardyne. As it was Lawrie was able to continue after treatment but the lack of control exerted by the officials was soon to be shown up once more. Saints were still making the more clearcut chances in the game and after Scotland was clobbered in the 34th minute, the freekick found James at the far post and he sent a looping header over the goalie and towards the far corner where Scotland came in only for his close-range shot to be cleared off the line again. The follow-up corner was again headed in by James but well held by the County keeper. Scotland was in the thick of it again in the 36th minute, this time setting up Peaso for a run into the box where his shot was held.

The nastier side of the game was shown up a minute later when McInnes went in heavily on the County left-back in front of both dugouts. It was a late challenge and clumsy at best. With the County player down injured, both sets of players and officials clashed with James having to hold back Sheerin and Mensing while the police came onto the pitch to pull back the officials and the referee took an age to get over to sort things out. McInnes was lucky to escape with a booking and while I didn't see it there were some who saw a punch being thrown, but in my mind it was the sort of flashpoint that was waiting to happen given the way the referee had let some heavy challenges go unpunished beforehand. As it was we nearly paid dear with the resulting freekick as the ball sent long into the Saints area found Cowie who sent a shot just over the bar while the Saints players looked stunned.

We tried to hit back with Peaso and Sheerin linking well to set up McLaren who cut the ball back for Mensing but his shot was deflected for a corner - this time we avoided targeting Kevin James but Peaso was penalised for going up for the ball alongside the home keeper. Ross County tried to counter and Gardyne was given room to get a cross in which Cowie rose unmarked to head over the bar. The closing stages of the half though were dominated by more scrappy play and far too many offsides while Robertson made sure that McInnes left the park at half time with a few bruises following a couple of heavy challenges from behind which Ritchie didn't even warn him about. The final chance of the half saw Goran grabbing the game by the scruff of the neck and he went for another great run through the left channel before setting up Peaso. He held the ball up long enough before playing it back to Mensing and his shot took a deflection before being held. But that was a rare instance as too often we were showing far too much hesitancy when we went near the opposition box.

The injured Moore was replaced by McKinlay at half-time. The second period started well enough for Saints. Scotland was fouled early on and McInnes' freekick into he box was well headed down by James for Peaso but somehow from about three yards out he managed to miss. A minute later and County forced their first corner of the half and the Cat had to be lively to punch the ball cleared. It soon came back in but a foul on Sheerinho broke up the attack with McCulloch picking up a booking for shouting his mouth off at the referee in the process. The game had become if anything even scrappier and Saints were guilty of dropping further and further back as we defended deeply. And the surprises started with Saints making their first substitution eight minutes into the half with Scotland the surprise withdrawal as Derek Lilley came on to replace him. Certainly Jason didn't look injured but unfortunately removing him also took away a lot of the attacking creativity in the side with Webb marshalling Peaso well and the midfield dropping back as Mensing seemed to still be suffering from his injury while McInnes looked simply knackered. Our attacks had also become totally predictable with every long throw aimed at the head of Kevin James and none of these attacks coming off -there was little variety to our play.

The niggles were starting to boil over as well and McLaren and McKinlay were warned after squaring up to one another in one of those typical handbags at dawn affairs. Saints still had the odd chance though and a good move in the 61st minute saw a long clearance from the Cat saw Lilley chip the ball past the defence for Peaso but he had to settle for a corner. The was floated over for McManus at the back post and his chip back into the six yard box found Lilley with a free header only for the ball to go over the bar. But that was a rarity as County kept up the pressure and we had to rely on Mensing and McManus to clear the danger although too often the ball wasn't finding a friendly shirt or else was being played on too quickly rather than trying to hold up the play.

For their part Ross County were a lot more fired up and knocking the ball about comfortably. Filipe replaced the unlucky McLaren in the 65th minute and two minutes later got onto the end of a James header from a freekick. The ball was h headed down to him perfectly but Morais managed to only find fresh air as he tried for a shot. Sheerinho tried a long range effort but it did little to trouble the keeper. We were still sitting back far too deeply and unable to hold onto the ball.

Worst was to come in the 70th minute as James was flattened. While it at least broke up the County attack, the Saints skipper was down for a few minutes before limping slowly off to the touchline. Owen decided against bringing on Ando immediately and that contributed to our undoing in the 74th minute. Sheerin had conceded a soft freekick on the touchline and as James was coming back on, it was taken. A nice wee goalmouth scramble followed before the skipper could get back to help and the ball ended up in the back of the Saints net with County sub Higgins credited with the score.

Almost immediately Peaso was withdrawn to be replaced by Savo and a minute later Morais was unfortunate to pick up a booking after a foul on Dowie - again the referee seemed set to keep the cards in his pocket before the County players started hassling him. Certainly the offence was no worse than some of the challenges on Saints players prior to that. County started to chase the winner now as Saints began to tire. Morais and Mensing failed to clear the danger at a throw-in in the 80th minute but the Cat held the final shot. Shields tried his luck with a break a minute later but the Cat again did well to come out of his box to clear the danger and settle for a corner.

The last five minutes saw Saints waken up a bit and start to look a bit livelier. Morais had a good run to the byeline before being tackled. The throw-in into the box found Savo who turned and tried a shot that was blocked although there were some calls for handball against the defender. McInnes tried a freekick in but it was easily cleared. James forced a corner three minutes from time. Sheerinho sent the ball into the box where James was clearly shoved but as you'd expect Mr Ritchie managed to get that decision wrong as well. County hit back and came close to getting a winner with a low long-range effort from Cowie which went just wide of the Cat's right-hand post. We countered with a Goran freekick which James headed behind. Then in injury time we almost showed signs of some decent play with Lawrie finding James from a throw-in. He headed the ball down for Morais who got to the touchline before cutting the ball back for Lilley who managed to shoot wide - even that was chalked off for an offside decision against Filipe. Just one of those days really.

Like the Motherwell game, it's hard to pick a MoM but this time for totally different reasons as we looked tired and unimaginative against a poor County side that if we'd kept up our initial momentum against we would have beaten comfortably. As it was the absence of Hardie in midfield was glaring with McInnes a poor replacement in terms of passing ability and discipline as he arguably could have cost us the game with his first-half booking. Elsewhere Owen has to take some of the flak for removing Jason from the action early and not immediately replacing James while Lilley and Morais were disappointing when they came on. On the plus side, Lawrie had an excellent game and despite his knock, Mensing put in a solid shift while McManus looks fully fit again. Anyway my MoM is going to Andy Lawrie - just be a wee bit more imaginative with the throw-ins next time eh?

And given we can play this crap and still close the gap on the Dream Team maybe this season has a few more surprises left in it yet.

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