Temple Of Saints - Saints Get Out of Jail

Bells League Division One 01/12/2007

Partick 2 Saints 2 League Table Here

Team : Main, Irvine, Stanic, Rustybitz, Sheerin, Jackson, Quinn, Deuchar, Hardie, Peaso
Subs: Cuthbert, Lawrie, Moon, Savo, Weatherston

So another new era dawns (second one in a week stats-fans) with the first game for Saints under the guidance and leadership of Derek McInnes. The new manager had said he wasn't going to make radical changes to the way things were done at the club, instead looking for a smooth transition to his reign. However more than a few of us had been feeling nervous about the recent run of poor form (even the cup final saw us almost blow a three goal lead) and with Firhill no longer the happy hunting ground it used to be during our run of 4-goals-a-match trips there, today was going to be a big test of character for the new Saints boss against a Partick side that despite it's inconsistencies over the season were more than capable of getting a result against us - as those of us unfortunate enough to witness the end of this season's run in the CIS Cup would testify.

Saints have traditionally managed to totally feck up their season during the festive run-in so there was the additional worry that an unwanted tradition would rear it's ugly head again. And for about 85 minutes that looked like the case with Saints sticking to an ineffective Route One style of play matched only in it's ineptitude by the insipid off-form crap that far too many of the Saints players displayed. Partick showed more organisation, hunger and fight for large periods of the game and it was only when the Gods decided to stop pissing on us for the final few minutes that we managed to scrape a point that we barely deserved.

Alan McManus was the only doubt before the game with a calf knock, but the return of Kevin Rutkiewicz meant we were more than adequately covered in defence and he took over the captain's armband as well. And although Hardie was still short of match fitness he had trained this week and started while Savo was on the bench with Weatherston also there in place of Oor Wullie. Kenny Deuchar was set to make his final appearance of his loan spell with Davie "Voodoo" Irons demanding his return to Gr£tna on Monday morning - although moves were already afoot to try and ensure the Doc's return to the Sacred Halls of McDiarmid on a more permanent basis. The other big question though was whether or not Derek McInnes would be hanging up his boots today in order to get his first experience of the dugout alongside new assistant Tony Docherty. Kevin Moon had been bigged up by the manager at his inaugural press conference but it was vital that we got off to a good start as the league campaign resumed.

As it was Del got the court suit and managerial coat out for a spell in the dugout while Mooner was also on the bench as again we started with three strikers with Jacko on the right. Sheerin was through the middle while for some reason Hardie was given the left midfield role.

With a healthy travelling support braving the trek into darkest Maryhill, Saints started against a swirling wind and steady downpour. Referee Collum went against form in the first minute giving us a freekick for a foul against the Doc. Goran (or Gordon to give him his Firhill name), took the kick, but despite it being headed on, there were no takers in the box - that was about to set the course of things to come. Two minutes after that we won our first corner through Jacko. The ball was sent into the area where Anderson rose up at the back post only to be adjudged to have fouled a defender whose collapse did credit to the Thistle luvvie reputation in terms of it's Oscar-winning performance - again something that we were going to witness throughout the afternoon.

The game soon settled into a scrappy affair with the Saints players continually losing their footing and the Doc getting little off the high balls fed to him from defence. A rare piece of skill from Saints saw Jackson and Rocco play a neat one-two but again the former's cross failed to find a white shirt. As it was, Partick broke straight up the park winning a soft corner - that was an outswinger that broke for the on-loan Kinniburgh who thankfully shot over. The Doc cleared the next corner but we were having no luck up front with a Pamela clearance flicked on by the Doc and Peaso for Jacko but a Thistle defender was over to make the tackle. Partick were dealing with what little we could throw at them and looked more dangerous when they countered, forcing several corners and causing us plenty of problems.

Halfway through the first period, Peaso set up the Doc with a through ball but Hinchcliffe came out to clear it. The resulting throw-in was fed to Peaso but his shot was an easy one and comfortably held. Hinchcliffe seemed to have picked up a knock and after some treatment went off to be replaced by Tufty (who Bore little resemblance to his squirrel namesake). When play resumed Peaso was the first to test the new goalie with a 25th minute shot after Rocco flicked a goalkick on. We were enjoying a little bit more pressure with little end result. Peaso and Jacko linked to try a shot but at the other end, a simple throw-in for Partick led to all sorts of a shambles in the Saints defence saw us only end up with Ando's poor clearance that fell for Buchanan whose drive brought out a good save from Main.

Saints were getting nothing from the referee with Deuchar losing out on most 50-50 challenges and even when he won the ball, the referee usually gave a foul against the Saints striker. Cue the sucker punch as a simple break down the Partick right wasn't closed down or cleared. A simple cross from the byeline found Main caught flat-footed at his near post and he slipped as the cross came over, allowing Roberts a simple header from 2 yards out. It was schoolboy defending but at least it provided the Firhill stadium announce with her first orgasm of the day.

Saints went from bad to worse as the half drew to a close. Given all the time in the world Roberts tried a lob from 25 yards that went just wide. At least it finished a bit better with Rusty grabbing the game by the horns and going for a run through the middle and releasing Jacko whose cross found Hardie clear at the back post but the Mad Mental One could only come up with a half-hearted chip that went miles wide.

Another boot up the arse from half-time? Your guess is as good as mine but for a few minutes after the restart, we at least threatened a bit with the Doc having a good claim for a penalty turned down within the first minute. We were passing the ball about well but the final cross was still too high with Tufty's goal rarely under threat. The conditions were getting worse and both teams struggled to play any flowing football though Partick looked a lot livelier as the Saints midfield lacked pace across the middle. There was some real controversy in the 51st minute when Jackson forced a corner. The ball came into the box and Rustybitz got up for the header only for a Thistle defender to get in and kick him in the head as they cleared the ball. Of course the referee saw nothing but luckily for us Rusty was able to carry on, although he looked pretty groggy.

Saints soon returned to their poor form with the defence standing off a Thistle break allowing a long-range shot be fired in that Main did well to get down and tip wide. We hit Back with a long ball from defence that Deuchar flicked on for Rocco who tried a volley that went over. Tufty was enjoying some banter (as all luvvies do) with the Saints fans who weren't amused by his timewasting. Still a sclaffed clearance from a passback provided the Saints fans with some light relief as the ball went out for a corner. It was half-cleared to Rusty but his effort was blocked and the Doc's header from the resulting cross held.

Partick hit back with Buchanan given plenty of room to try a shot from distance that went wide. Then Irvine failed to close down a challenge on the wing and the final cross beat Main but glanced off the crossbar. McInnes made his first substitution on the hour mark with Savo coming on for Jacko, who had been poor on the wing for long spells. Irvine tried to set up Deuchar a minute later but the striker's header went wide. And five minutes later we were two behind as Partick broke down the left, sent a simple cross over and Chaplain outjumped his marker for an easy header that Main got his fingers to, but could only palm it into the net. The honeymoon looked over, although our favourite announcer was obviously looking for another pair of knickers going by the way she wet herself announcing the goal.

Our attempt to hit back was simply pathetic with Hardie's 30-yard shot about as dangerous as a McLaren tackle. He looked slow and showed all the signs of not wanting to be there. Peaso had a similar effort - again he looked like the Invisible Man for long periods. Some good build-up play in the 71st minute saw Rocco shoot wide which at least gave us some hope. Another Quinn run just after that saw him crudely scythed down from behind but the referee kept his cards in his pocket - Rocco himself wasted the freekick firing it straight at the defensive wall. Another long ball in the 77th minute was headed on by the Doc for Savo but a defender cut into the box to concede a corner - Ando headed that one wide.

The first booking of the game came in the 81st minute and Thistle's McKinlay was lucky it was only a yellow as he slid in on Irvine running up the line. The Saints player was down needing treatment and the referee got in on the act forcing him off the park to allow the game to resume. The freekick was wasted and a couple of minutes later Irvine and Peaso made way for Lawrie and Davie Weatherston. Partick were getting desperate with the challenges as we tried to get something from the game and Rocco was next to be chopped with five minutes remaining. The freekick forward found Hardie but his header was held.

But with three minutes to go we finally got a break. Savo broke into the box and found Hardie whose effort was cleared. The throw-in back into the area seemed to strike a defender's hand but with no claim for handball given, the ball broke to Savo at the edge of the box and he was caught late - this time Collum finally pointed to the spot. Up stepped Sheerinho for another cool spot kick finished to make it 2-1, with Savo grabbing the ball off Tufty to hurry for the restart. And within a minute we were back up the park pressing as Weatherston, Stanic and Lawrie all piled forward. This time it was Savo who went left before cutting in and crossing into the area. Hardie was on the edge of the box and a quick header in allowed the Doc to bear down and beat Tufty to the ball to head home. Two-each and a nice way for Deuchar to sign off his loan spell.

Overall though the Saints performance was the stuff nightmares are made of and resembled the shambles at Firhill at the start of the year when we blew the title. Too many high balls, too many passengers in the side and no pace or hunger throughout the team. Deuchar will be missed when he goes but given that Rocco and my MoM Goran were the only ball players in the Saints starting eleven, it doesn't bode well. We can blame the pitch, the conditions (both of which saw the Saints players looking more slippery than a Labour politician) and the referee but the fact is that for large chunks of the game we were second to everything and we rarely created any clearcut chances. The new regime has it's work cut out to improve things but they can start by getting the players to keep the ball on the deck.

Still - the new manager is unbeaten!!

This Match Report is copyright Temple Of Saints - not to be reused without permission. Contact webmaster@grange.demon.co.uk.

Remember to vote on todays ref Wullie Collum- send marks out of 10 to refvote@grange.demon.co.uk or just select a rating and press the button below ::

Saints Index Fixtures Index Grange Index

Any problems / comments mail webmaster@grange.demon.co.uk