Temple Of Saints - Reality Check

Bells League Division One 27/10/2007

Saints 1 Clyde 1 League Table Here

Team : Main, Irvine, Stanic, McInnes, McManus, Anderson, Quinn, Sheerin, Deuchar, Jackson, McLaren
Subs: Cuthbert, Peaso, Weatherston, McCluskey, Stewart

With Saints now in an excellent vein of form, the pressure was on the boys to keep the run going as they went into this afternoon's clash with our bogey team from the first quarter of the season. A bad-tempered defeat at Broadwood had been about the only real blip in our form in the opening stages and there was plenty of opportunity for a wee bit of revenge to be dished out by Jack n the Doc who were looking to keep their wonderful scoring run going. Clyde have had it tough in recent weeks and seem set for another mixed season with the odd gem of a win shining out from the dross their fans have to watch the rest of the time. For Saints, Owen knew that something would eventually give with the top pairing (although Accies clinical demolition of the Fifers last weekend was a disappointment at McDiarmid) and it was up to us to keep grinding out the results.

Nobody expected a pretty game as clashes between us and the Cumbernauld Cloggers had been "spirited" affairs in recent seasons with the referee's card tally more often than not exceeding the amount of goalmouth action. In the end, today's performance was along the same lines with plenty of cards dished out by referee Norris in a poor display which was only matched by Saints below-par performance as too many players in the home side failed to produce the goods and in the end we were lucky to take a point as Clyde dominated in the second-half. We were second-best to the ball too often today and seemed unable to show the sort of creativity from midfield that we've demonstrated in recent weeks with all four of the midfield poor on the day.

Rocco had been the real worry after being stretchered off last Saturday following O'Neill's "clash". But he recovered to resume controlling the midfield four. Elsewhere in the side and again Owen stuck by the same players as had chalked up the wins in recent weeks. How long that will continue remains to be seen, especially after Voodoo-king Davie Irons was doing more yakking about the Doc to his pals in the media this week. Mooner was missing after his injury kept him out along with Dyron Daal. And while it's going to be a few weeks before we see a return for Savo to the first team, the bench did see a return for Jamie McCluskey in place of the injury Mooner.

Saints started well enough, with Rocco showing no ill-effects from last weekend with a run which saw him beat three opponents before trying his luck with a low drive from the edge of the box that went just wide. A minute later we had the first of several balls into the box for the strikers but although the Doc set it up nicely for Jacko, he couldn't find any room for a shot. Irvine tried a cross for Jacko next but the shot was blocked for a corner - that was headed clear after an Ando header floated into the danger zone. McLaren sent a good cross in that was cleared and Jacko had a similar sprint up the other flank but his final cross was cut out by a defender. We were certainly creating plenty early on but the lack of clearcut chances were telling with Clyde packing their defence and happier to just hit us on the break.

The next chance came from another freekick as Rocco was again sent flying. Irvine again sent a great ball into the area but this time it was the Doc who headed wide of target. Sheerin tried a cross that the Doc headed wide next (you can possibly see a bit of a pattern emerging here) as Saints struggled to get going. The first booking came in the 14th minute with McGregor going into the naughty book for a tug as Jacko broke through - although it was a pity that the referee didn't play advantage. The freekick was wasted. Next chance for Saints was in the 16th minute with Wullie running through and playing a good one-two with Sheerin before trying a chip into the box that the defence mopped up. The fouls were coming thick and fast as the game began to turn scrappy. Higgins was the second Clyde player yellow- carded for a foul from behind on Jacko followed by a warning for the Doc after a foul against him in the box.

Main was first called into action in the 22nd minute after Goran slipped on the wing and conceded a corner. The Saints keeper was off his line quickly enough though to punch the ball clear. Clyde's next attack was down the other wing and Irvine was late with his tackle. Despite it being a first offence, he went straight into the book with Rocco also warned as he protested. The freekick from Masterton was chipped just over the bar. We looked disjointed and off the pace as Clyde came into the game more and more with the Saints defence conceding a series of corner kicks - although Ando and McManus at the heart of defence were as solid as ever. Up front we saw several crosses going in with Jacko and Wullie supplying the ammo but time and time again, the Clyde defence had little difficulty in clearing the danger.

Our best chance came ten minutes from the break with Irvine supplying Wullie on the right and the winger's cross into the box finding the Doc. He had a shot blocked which in turn broke for Sheerin who forced a corner. From that the ball broke to McManus who played a cheeky chip in for the Doc who sent a header in which Hutton did well to tip over the bar. From the corner McManus again rose up to head the ball in and both the Doc and Jacko pounced to try and score with the ball about two yards out but a series of rebounds and sclaffs ended up with the goalie smothering the ball. Clyde forced a couple of corners without causing any real trouble - in fact the biggest danger came from ourselves. Four minutes from the break, a throw-in found McManus sleeping and his ball back to Main was a poor one with the Saints keeper forced into a panicky clearance. There was only one other incident of note as the half wound down with Rocco and Wilson having a small argument off the ball which ended with the pair of them being booked - annoying for us since it seemed that the Clyde player was more at fault than the Saints midfielder.

With the rain and wind leading to poorer playing conditions as the second- half got underway, Clyde had the first attack with an early corner that was easily cleared. Even so, Saints were slow to get going. Five minutes into the half Clyde created their best chance after a defensive slip on the pitch allowed them through for a shot from the edge of the box that went wide of goal. Sheerin had a freekick cleared but a good move in the 54th minute saw Saints break through the Doc setting up Wullie on the right. He got forward and squared the ball for Sheerin but instead of shooting first time, Sheerinho ran the ball wide. Jacko set up Rocco next for a nice chip through for Wullie but he was ruled offside. Clyde were soon on the attack again though and after Irvine missed another tackle (as the right- back had a poor second forty-five), they had room for a cutback that Ando put behind for a corner. That in itself was dangerous enough as the corner was sent across the six yard box only for no takers, but it was a real let-off for Saints.

Sheerin and Wullie sent crosses into the Clyde goal that were cleared. Clyde came closer on the hour mark though as the Saints defence and midfield went to sleep again. The ball into the box was half-cleared by Sheerin but only as far as a Clyde shirt and a long-range shot was fired back in that Main did well to get back and tip over the bar. That led to a series of corners for Clyde although eventually Main managed to hold one. It did demonstrate how effective they were taking corners though as opposed to the relatively weak efforts from Sheerin for Saints. It signalled a good spell for Clyde with plenty of pressure on the Saints goal and an inability of Saints to break out of their half. Davie Weatherston replaced Wullie in the 66th minute and Jacko went off to be replaced by Peaso four minutes later (just as Clyde's no 8 picked up a booking for kicking the ball away). We sent one freekick into the Clyde box which broke out for Ando and he did well at the corner flag to win the ball and chip it back across the goal where the Doc rose up to head the ball straight at the keeper - it was definitely turning into one of those days for us.

With fifteen minutes to go though we had the first sign that the referee was losing control. A passback for Main looked harmless enough until the keeper slipped on the wet pitch. With the ball heading for goal Main recovered enough to get back and recover at the post smothering the ball as a Clyde attacker pressed in. The ball went out and everyone could see that was due to the Clyde player. The referee signalled for a corner though and it took a minute or so before he bothered to pay attention to the linesman and award the goal kick instead. Whether or not that led to a lapse in concentration, within a minute Clyde had pressed down the left channel again with Imrie getting into the box where he sent an angled chip shot over Main and into the net. A good goal for him but a nightmare for us to have lost. Saints tried to hit back with Stanic sending a cross over that was headed clear as far as Sheerin who tried a shot that seemed to be handled - with the way our luck was going though we were never going to get the penalty decision. Things went from bad to worse with Peaso picking up a booking for a tackle from behind as McInnes was replaced by McCluskey for the last 12 minutes. Two minutes later and we almost conceded a second with Irvine missing a tackle on the touchline again. The ball into the box well nicely for the Clyde striker but Main was quick to smother the danger.

Almost immediately we broke back up the park and for one glorious moment, Lady Luck decided to come out and humiliate an opposition keeper at McDiarmid. The Doc broke up the park on the left wing and as support followed, he took the ball right to the corner before sending cross over (presumably aiming for Peaso or Weatherston who were up in support). Instead his cross was far too close to the keeper who seemed set to have an easy catch before the fates intervened and somehow the ball bounced off his hands and into the back of the net. Cue massive cheers (mainly of relief) for the Doc and a Clyde keeper on his knees in his goalmouth looking for that hole to swallow him up.

That sparked Saints to life and also put an end to the timewasting tactics that Clyde had begun to indulge in (since about three o'clock). The Doc was fouled 20 yards out and Rocco tried his luck with the freekick as the ball rounded the wall but was held by the keeper. But it was Clyde that had the best chance three minutes from the end of normal time as a through ball saw the defence wide open and a Clyde player in the box whose tried a shot that beat Main but came back off the post. Weatherston took the ball back up the park for a great run and a cutback aimed for Sheerin in plenty of room but Peaso cut it out instead going for the shot but only firing wide. Sheerin tried with a freekick next into the box and both Ando and the Doc went in on goal to try and get a shot but again somehow the keeper and his goal led a charmed life - maybe we should just give up on these close-range efforts. The final efforts fell for the strikers again with a long freekick for Peaso ending in another blocked shot and the Doc shooting wide in injury time.

Overall a draw was about fair but Saints should have made a lot more of their chances in the first half. The midfield suffered as well as the conditions worsened with Wullie and Sheerin both poor and Rocco looking like he suffered from the lack of training midweek. MoM for me was Ando about the only player on the park that merited pass marks on the day. There's little else to be said on the game - it was poor entertainment for the fans and there will need to be a lot more improvement in attitude and effort for next week's trip to Dens.

Still ten points isn't that bad..is it?

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