Temple Of Saints - Revenge

Bells League Division One 16/02/2008

Saints 2 Accies 1 League Table Here

Team : Main, Irvine, Stanic, Cameron, Rutkiewicz, Anderson, Rocco, Craig, Jacko, Peaso, Weatherston
Subs: Cuthbert, McManus, Moon, Savo, Sheerin

With Saints returning to reality with a nasty bump last weekend at Palmerston it was do or die time if we had to have any hope of closing the gap as the league leaders came to town to try and kill off our faint title challenge. Despite Saints putting in arguably our best performance of the season last September to beat Accies on their last visit, the Lanarkshire side had shown they had the ability to grind out the results over the last few months while we were enjoying the delights of drawing every week - thirteen point leads in this league don't appear by drawing games as the great philosopher Crampsey might have said. For all that, there was still a bit of belief in the side following the midweek cup trip to Dingwall, that the arses had still been well and truly kicked and we wouldn't have to witness a display as pathetic and half-hearted as the one we saw at Dumfries last weekend. Mind you by all accounts the cup tie wasn't the one-sided gloriously dominant affair we'd all hoped to see and so there was more than a few nerves going into today's encounter.

In the end though, one other piece of homespun philosophy rings true - "Cheats never prosper" as despite taking the lead, Accies cynical, fouling, timewasting tactics were their undoing as Saints fought back from a poor start to win the psychological battle and take all three points to no doubt piss off Billy Reid greatly, especially since we managed to not only beat the leaders but one of the poorest sets of officials we've had to witness this season. Bruised and battered we might be tonight but that won't seem much of a problem to the Saints players and fans.

Martin Hardie had trained this week but he was adjudged to be short on match fitness, while Danny McBreen had been ruled out after getting an injection in his knee during the week. Jinky had managed a dugout appearance at Dingwall and the defence was boosted with the return to the squad of both Rustybitz and Pamela although the latter was only making a temporary return before his knock-on suspension kicked in for the Morton and Scumdee games. Elsewhere and after last weekend's surprise arrival, Rocco, was back after sitting out the cup-tie to make his home re-debut. There had been no injury worries from the County match but even so Del shook up the side with Savo and Sheerin dropped as Cameron started in midfield and Davie Weatherston was pushed out to the right wing. For the visitors there was no shortage of targets for the boo-boys with Simon "honest it's between two clubs" Mensing the Well reject and James "too many nicknames to mention" Grady in their side (the latter taking a lot of stick from the home fans with a smirk on his face like an evil wee dwarf). And of course in goal was ex-Saints keeper Bryn Halliwell, although the years are obviously catching up on him going by slow movement across the box when taking goalkicks - I mean it's not like a Billy Reid side to try and sort of gamesmanship to spoil a game is it?

The match began with Saints failing to match the pre-match comments from the management who had called for us to grab the game by the scruff of the neck in the opening stages. Instead we looked nervy with the midfield especially showing a lack of movement. Hamilton enjoyed the first chance with a cross into Main's box cleared by Cameron eventually with the rest of the defence not looking very clever. Our first chance came in the fifth minute with some pressure on the left seeing Goran send a deep cross over for Weatherston at the back post and his ball back saw Rocco just fail to make the header. Two minutes later some excellent build-up play found Peaso with his back to goal on the edge of the box but he laid the ball off beautifully for Cameron who tried a long- range shot that was too weak and easily held by the Timewaster. We had some early chances but failed to capitalise on them and seemed unable to turn the balls in the box into clearcut chances. A freekick was hit off the wall and Peaso headed over a Craig corner after some good work by Weatherston on the right wing to win the set piece.

The first sign of a niggle in the game and worryingly the lack of control from the referee came in the 14th minute with Jacko clobbered from behind by a heavy challenge from Elebert which left both players down nursing head knocks. The freekick was half-cleared by the Accies defence but Irvine was there for a decent shot that was held. Two minutes later and Jacko won another corner for Saints. The ball was floated over by Craig for a header which seemed to be cleared off the line. It broke for Peaso eight yards out but he somehow sclaffed his effort wide and over the bar. Accies best chance of the half came in the 18th minute after a corner was cleared. A quick throw-in on the right saw the defence caught out and the ball went long across the penalty area where Rusty and Ando failed to clear the danger and Offiong was caught off-balance while Main was nowhere - luckily the ball was stuck behind for a goal kick. Saints hit back and five minutes later Goran and Peaso combined to set up Craig on the wing but his shot went across the goal with no takers.

By now though there was as much a concern as to the way the referee was controlling the game with a reluctance to show any cards or to penalise some of the heavy challenges with McLaughlin and Elebert practically shagging Jacko and Peaso such was the nature of their assaults. It was Jacko that cut out the next chance latching onto a simple through ball from midfield to go wide and cut into the box only to send his shot into the side netting. That was followed by a long-range effort from Craig which went wide of goal. We weren't playing that great though and while Accies weren't pressing much (Offiong was pretty anonymous for most of the game), there was still a wee niggling doubt that the self-destruct capability shown last weekend was still there. Rocco gave the ball away allowing Neil in with a shot that Main held.

But the bad times were just round the corner, and so it appeared on the sidelines with Gilhaney given too much room on the left wing. Irvine went in with a rank rotten challenge as we failed to close down the danger and before we knew it the cross had been sent into the box where is somehow eluded Speedy Main and went over him into the net to give the Accies the sort of lead that the word spawny doesn't even begin to describe. It knocked Saints back a bit and with the home support relatively quiet and the title dreams vanishing over the horizon, and the mood not helped by Timewaster living up to his name in the away goal. Saints tried to get back but our opportunities were limited and half-hearted. Weatherston won a freekick and played it shot to Cameron but he had two attempts blocked by the defence. Cameron wasn't having a decent game and seemed to be getting caught in possession too often in the middle of the park. Elsewhere and the defence seemed intent on bypassing the middle of the park with too many route one balls played straight through the middle and while Jacko and Peaso were playing well up front, the lack of support was more of a concern as Rocco looked less than 100% fit and Weatherston wasn't seeing much of the ball on the wing.

Rocco was guilty of a slack pass for Goran seven minutes from the break and Hamilton were allowed through where Rusty was suddenly pulled up by the referee for a tackle that was softer than a very soft thing. The freekick was sent well over the bar by Easton. The game threatened to boil over as half-time approached and a Weatherston run down the wing saw him set up Rocco only for Quinn to be upended by a nasty challenge by Neil which earned him a booking. The freekick was cleared though as yet again we tried a high ball into the box. Another great run by Craig in the final minute of the half saw him release Peaso on the left but the ball went too wide. Peaso managed to get the cutback across goal only for the defence to clear it again. Rocco tried a volley from a loose cross which went wide of goal, but the half was rounded off with more boredom as the Timewaster and his pals tried to run down the clock, followed by an Offiong dive and McArthur going in late with hands raised on Alan Main as the Saints goalie picked up a loose ball - suddenly the whistle-happy Mr Norris was nowhere to be seen.

The second-half had only just begun before both sides were making some changes. McCarthy replaced Neil after two minutes. Davie Weatherston was the next Saints player on the receiving end of a heavy challenge from Easton (the freekick held up after McLaughlin threw the ball away unseen). Jacko carved out our first chance in the 49th minute with a good run on the right and the ball played back in where it broke to Peaso but he shot over the bar. A minute after that and Del made a double substitution with Cameron and Weatherston withdrawn and replaced by Sheerin and Savo as we went for a more familiar 4-3-3 formation. Almost immediately we managed a cross in from the left that Savo just failed to make contact with. Then a long punt from Rustybitz found Peaso who took the ball left and cut the ball back in for Savo but his shot went wide of goal.

That sparked another change from Accies with Offiong the Anonymous replaced by Grady the Short-Diving-Cheat to a wonderful round of applause from the home fans (aye right). But with Grady up front on his own it seemed more and more that Reid was happy to try and timewaste his way to a defensive one goal win. We were playing better but struggling to carve out any real chances. Accies were limited to the odd freekick with one on the hour mark only cleared after about half a dozen attempts from the Saints defence. Jacko was fouled (again!) in the 64th minute and from the freekick, Goran sent the ball into the packed box but Ando's header went behind the goal. Rocco was fouled next but Craig's freekick was wasted and to add to the frustration in the East Stand when Accies broke, Gilhaney went for a wee dive under a challenge from Irvine earning the Saints defender a booking for what had to be his first foul of the game - it was just a sign that the referee was losing more and more control and as Accies grew more desperate the game became a lot more niggly.

Another long ball from Main just after that ended in a corner for us. This time Peaso headed the ball back across from the back post for Rusty whose header was cleared off the line - cue another Gilhaney dive as they broke up the park. But with the game threatening to boil over the cards were finally dished out by the ineffectual Norris - all to Saints as well. Rusty got booked in the 69th minute just after McLaughlin escaped with his 23rd foul of the afternoon then Jacko picked up a yellow a minute later. But the inconsistencies were shown up in the 71st minute when Grady followed through on a challenge on Main but escaped any punishment. If that wasn't enough we had a decent penalty claim a minute later. Irvine crossed from the right and Peaso headed the ball on for Craig who came in with the Timewaster nowhere near him and a suspicion of handball as the defence tried to clear their lines. The referee settled for awarding us a corner from which Rusty had the ball in the net only to see his goal chalked off for another foul on Accies.

Revenge is sweet though and after another couple of freekicks were missed or played across an empty goal, a simple deep throw from Gary Irvine in the 77th minute found Peaso in plenty of room and he flicked the ball on brilliantly to find the unmarked Craig coming in from the left and Liam let fly with a cracking volley from 18 yards out which rocketed into the net. Suddenly it was game on. Jacko's hassling of McLaughlin a minute later earned him a freekick which Craig played into the box for no takers. But 9 minutes from time we took the lead with what can best be described as a piece of irony. Good pressure saw the ball played over to the left wing where Peaso sent the ball into the goal beating Halliwell and the two defenders on the line and although it was punted clear Norris finally gave a correct decision declaring that the ball had crossed the line. Cheers from the home fans, smiles from Peaso and a booking for Mensing for whingeing!!

Suddenly Accies seemed to want to hurry to get on with the game and it opened up. Craig had a long-range effort held easily enough although it was an audacious effort while Main had to look sharp to hold a corner five minutes from time. Craig became the next booking a minute later deservedly so for a flying elbow. The closing stages saw Accies blow their chances though with Mensing getting a loose ball from the Saints defence but obviously pretending he was still wearing the sacred blue, he cleared the ball over Main's goal. More irony after that as Main took the goalkick with Grady doing the cheeky wee get bit and complaining about timewasting - oh how we laughed.

A Jacko foul saw a freekick from Peaso held but Accies had the chances with a freekick headed wide and then a defensive cock-up from Ando and Goran in the second minute of injury time letting Grady in only for Main to prove the more sprightly of the clash of the OAPs with a good save. The final chance fell to us after Savo was clobbered with Peaso's freekick blocked by the wall.

Overall it was a pretty poor performance from Saints but given the result there will be few complaints. To his credit Del changed things round when needed and Savo gave us more of an option up front. Defensively Ando had a good game while Jacko and Peaso up front both played well but my MoM goes to Liam Craig for another cracking finish and some solid midfield play as the game wore on. Time will tell as to the impact of the result on Accies but the pressure is on them a bit and if we can get our act together and start getting some consistency on the park, we'll be there at the end of the season.

Nice wee win though!!!

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