Temple Of Saints - Saints Battle Back..Again

Bells League Division One 02/01/2008

Saints 1 Scumdee 1 League Table Here

Team : Main, Irvine, Stanic, Anderson, Rutkiewicz, McManus, Peaso, Craig, Jacko, Savo, Sheerin
Subs: Cuthbert, McCaffrey, Daal, Moon, McBreen

After ending 2007 with a hard-fought win, 2008 got of to the traditional start of Saints commemorating the anniversary of a certain 7-2 victory against our much-loved cousins from the poorer end of the River Tay. The Coags have had a good season so far and going into this game held the edge over Saints thanks to a flukey injury-time winner at Dens back at the start of November. Since then they've continued their good run of form and managed to get players to sign up to contracts without any apparent fear of not being able to honour them due to hassles from creditors and the bank. Meanwhile we had a wee resurgence of confidence after winning at Broadwood despite the twin handicaps of Alan Main in goals and Dyron Daal doing his best Paddy Connolly impressions in the six-yard box - although the latter at least wasn't as bad as we'd expected given his long lay-off. Today was a big game for both sides and defeat for Saints looked like it could end our faint hopes of achieving anything in the league this season.

And come 4.45pm, there wasn't that much more to be hopeful about as a pretty poor derby ended with a draw which the neutral might consider to be a fair result but for the large Saints crowd, it's hard to see it that way. Yet again we had to come from behind as Saints once more looked a disjointed side unable to master the basics of playing the ball along the deck. Defensively we were a bit better than at the weekend but still cut open far too easily and while Main made a couple of good saves late on, there were times when he again was all over the place. The rest of the side seemed to be suffering from a New Year hangover and while we persisted with high balls to a small strikeforce against a tall Dundee defence there were barely any pickings for the strikers - unfortunately, it's starting to feel like I'm repeating myself with every bloody report with the same things going wrong in the side week after week. In terms of pluses in the side, Moon was once more outstanding when he came off the bench and has to surely be on the teamsheet for the Partick game, while McBreen looked reasonably sharp up front. But if we're to stand a chance of closing the gap, we have to start converting these draws to wins and that means playing to our strengths from the first minute - as opposed to when we go behind.

The New Year saw the transfer window open as loan deals came to an end all over the country with Rocco the main departure from Saints as Sellik rattled their biscuit tin to plead poverty again (they've got to fund Bobo's wages from somewhere). However, he'd been missing at Broadwood through injury and his replacement in Kevin Moon had come through the game with flying colours scoring a goal into the bargain, thankfully living up to the hype his manager has been heaping on the poor guy - pity he had to settle for a place on the bench though. Del hadn't been sitting on his laurels and the transfer window also saw the arrival of Stuart McCaffrey from Caley Thistle on a six-month loan-before-a- permanent-move deal (having picked Saints over today's opponents), while Saints were also pushing to get the necessary international clearance to play ex-Falkirk striker Danny McBreen, and we ended with both players on the bench at the expense of Lawrie and Weatherston. After the changes at the weekend, when Sheerin, Savo and Ando all missed out, Del elected to shuffle everything about again in an attempt to confuse the East Stand tactical geniuses further. So back came all three while Dyron and Mooner dropped to the bench and Lawrie got a seat in the stand. It meant Saints lining up with Ando at right-back and Irvine once more pushed into midfield. For our lice-ridden neighbours ex-Saints Samson and Eddie Malone lined up while McDonald and Swankie, who both have done little to endear themselves to us in the past were also in the midfield.

There was a minute's applause for Phil O'Donnell, before the game started in the traditional lively atmosphere for the derby in front of an excellent crowd. Saints tried to press from the kick-off but the first goal threat came for the Coagies in the second minute when Main was put under pressure for a clearance which he managed with his usual inimitable style sending the ball straight back to an opposition player. The game was being played tightly and given we've not seen a real goalfest in the previous encounters between the sides that didn't come as too much of a surprise. But for all that we managed to carve out the first chance in the fifth minute when a long ball from defence found Savo running down the left channel and he got to the byeline and played a nice cutback which was only half-cleared as far as Gary Irvine and he had a go from 25 yards out with a low drive that Samson managed to hold. A minute later and pressure from Malone down the left-wing forced a corner for the Coags. Goran got his head to the cross ball and half- cleared it with the keeper nowhere and even then they still managed to get a couple of shots blocked in the box before Kevin Rutkiewicz cleared the danger. A Dundee freekick three minutes later also caused problems for the Saints goalkeeper before Craig hooked the ball clear - although again we failed to create anything from the clearances and ease the pressure on the goal.

The next chance though came after another Malone cross was held. A long ball found Savo who laid it on to Jacko but despite making a good run he couldn't find the room for the cutback. Savo turned creator again in the 12th minute with a cross for Jacko but again he was too slow in the box and easily crowded out with a worrying lack of white shirts accompanying him in support. Dundee forced another corner off Anderson after that which Goran again headed clear. But a quick throw-in found Saints with eleven players in the box and Kevin McDonald was given too much room to get the ball across and with Main slow to come out and collect, Lyle decided to have a dive at the far post which the referee correctly ignored. We were all over the place though and it seemed like we couldn't string two passes together with a lack of movement and vision throughout the side and the Dens Park side getting far too much room to press forward.

Even our next chance in the 15th minute almost seemed half-hearted with a foul on Savo leading to a freekick into the box which found Savo. He laid it back to Peaso but his shot was easily blocked and there was no white shirt to follow up. Samson seemed to be intent on making as many errors as Main and he nearly cost his side midway through the half. Another long ball (surprise, surprise) found Savo chasing down a defender and when the ball was played back to the keeper he almost spilled it. A minute after that and more pressure saw Saints playing the ball on the deck with Irvine and Peaso linking well but the final cross was dealt with far too easily by the Dundee defence and they immediately counter-attacked with Craig forced to come back and make a last-ditch tackle to clear the ball in the box after Main hesitated.

Saints hit back with Sheerin sending a long crossfield ball for Peaso who played a high cross back across the box for Jacko at the back post but the ball was too high for the Saints striker. Another long ball after that saw Jacko chase Samson down before he cleared the ball. But we kept up the pressure with Savo heading the ball on for Sheerin and Peaso in the box only for Peaso to be penalised for an alleged foul on the defender. Ando took a kick in the head just after that and had to leave the field for treatment. From the resulting freekick, Sheerin sent the ball over but Peaso headed the ball behind. Then another long ball from defence ended with Savo being hauled to the deck. This time Sheerin played a short ball and Peaso fired in an absolute rocket of a shot from 25 yards out that Samson brilliantly saved. He failed to hold onto the ball but a defender got in to clear from Savo's feet and when the ball broke to Craig on the left his angled shot went into the side netting.

The play was going from end-to-end and Swankie tried his luck with a header before Savo, Craig and Goran linked up well on the left before the latter send in a great cross that Peaso got up to send in a downward header that took a bounce before it was held by the keeper. Next up was McManus with the wimpiest of clearances giving the ball away allowing Dundee to press forward before Rustybitz cleared our lines. There was a bit more of a controversial end to the half. With five minutes remaining, the ball was played across the edge of the Saints penalty area to Kevin McDonald who managed a complete arse of a fresh-air shot. That seemed to annoy him and after Ando had cleared the danger, the Scumdee midfielder went in late off the ball. The referee warned him about it but once he'd spoken to his assistant, he flashed a yellow card at the Dundee player.

Of course after that it was only a matter of time before the card was shown to a Saints player so Sheerin picked up a booking a minute later for what was his first challenge of the game. Saints finished the half a bit stronger with Irvine and Ando linking well on the right before crossing for Jackson who met the ball at the near post only for his shot to be held by the keeper.

The second period saw Saints start a bit better but two minutes gone and Dundee got the first chance of the game with Swankie cutting in from the left and trying his luck before Ando blocked his shot. A minute later we managed to concede another freekick that was floated into the box with Main posted missing. Rustybitz got in to make a block and try and clear the danger picking up an ankle knock in the process that left him flattened and with the Saints defender down, the rest of the players were unable to clear their lines with the end result being the ball finding Kevin McDonald at the edge of the box and he let fly with a drive that went straight into the back of the net with Main barely moving. One-nil down and it didn't look too good for us although at least Rustybitz was able to continue after treatment. About the only compensation was that the goal livened up the stands as well as the action on the park with Saints suddenly realising they might have to work to get back into the game.

Things weren't helped by Ando picking up a booking for a bodycheck on Sturm but Sheerin and Ando managed between them to block the resulting freekick. Del decided to ring the changes just after that and Ando was replaced by Kevin Moon with Gary Irvine dropping back to right-back. And within a minute we were on the attack with Goran, back to his best, setting up Craig for a cross from the left but the striker's couldn't make any room for a shot. Craig won a corner for us a minute later and from Sheerin's inswinger, a header into the six-yard box wasn't properly cleared and it broke to Rustybitz who tried an overhead kick only to make contact with a Dundee defender instead and concede a freekick. Still it gave us a wee bit of hope, even if the injury did mean another long spell of timewasting from the Coags. We forced a couple of corners after that but were struggling to threaten Samson's goal with a Craig freekick from 25 yards out the only real test for the keeper as he held the shot.

Just after the hour mark, Del made his second change with Danny McBreen coming on for Craig as Saints went to a 4-3-3 formation with Peaso dropping back to midfield. We were playing the long ball more but the introduction of Moon to the midfield meant that we were holding the ball up more and God forbid, actually creating some flowing moves from time to time. As for McBreen, his first chance came in the 64th minute when a lovely through ball from Goran was headed on by Sheerin for Danny but his shot looked to be handled in the box. Of course we didn't get the penalty.

Dundee hit back a couple of minutes later with a quick throw-in which found Robertson and he put in a good cross from the left which found Swankie free for a header and he put the ball wide. Almost immediately we broke back up the park with a long ball to Goran and his run and cross from the left was headed on and found McBreen who tried his luck with a shot that Samson failed to get down and hold. Savo was quick to react and with the ball looking to go wide and the Dundee keeper recovering he got in to prod the ball home from close range to draw us level. Suddenly the weight was lifted from us and the game became a real open end-to- end affair.

McHale managed a cynical foul on McBreen next and when the freekick was sent into the box, the nervy Samson flopped about a bit but the final shot was ruled offside. Back up the other end and Worrell sent in a deep cross from the right. With echoes of Clyde's goal from the weekend, at least this time Main was back and tipped the ball over the bar. The game was being played at a hectic pace with Saints next chance coming thirteen minutes from the end of normal time with Peaso and McBreen linking to win a corner from which the latter saw a header go wide. Two minutes later and Mooner played a delightful through ball for Savo who was bundled over. The freekick into the box though was easily collected by Samson ahead of Jacko. McHale picked up the next booking for continued dissent but the better chances seemed to be falling for the away side.

Just inside the final ten minutes and McDonald was given too much room to wander towards the Saints penalty area with the likes of Sheerin standing off him. He played the ball through for Lyle but Gary Irvine was there for a good tackle in the box. The danger wasn't cleared and the final shot curled across the goal with Main getting down to tip it clear. Saints broke up the park from the corner kick to win one of their own but this time Goran sent the ball over the bar. Peaso had a header go over and Jacko sent what looked to be a simple shot over the bar as the game drew to a close with Jacko being replaced for the last few minutes by Daal. We couldn't create too much from the long balls although it has to be said that Moon's influence in midfield was excellent as he barely put a foot wrong. The final chance though fell to the Coags after a shot was deflected out by Irvine for a corner in injury time with the close-range overhead kick tipped over by Main.

As I said, a draw was probably a fair result although it's little comfort for us when we know we can perform so much better. MoM for me was close with Ando excellent in the first half, Savo a tower of strength throughout and Mooner once more outstanding when he came off the bench. But over the ninety minutes it goes to Goran Stanic who looked to be back to his best at times especially with his link play with Peaso and Craig. For the new boy, McBreen did well enough when he came on and certainly adds some strength up front, but it's hard to tell if he'd be any better at getting the ball in the net than Savo, Peaso or Jacko.

At least we're still in the hunt...just.

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