Temple Of Saints - Nothing Fancy but Job Done

Bells League Division One 20/10/2007

Saints 2 QoS 0 League Table Here

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

One quarter of the campaign gone and it's safe to say that Saints seemed to have finally found our stride with the goals flying in from all over the shop and the dreaded E-for-Entertainment word actually almost hinting at making an appearance in some of the Sunday papers (God forbid they find a Saints match that's interesting). But thanks to the international weekend, we'd also had a fortnight off and there was always the danger that even allowing for home form, we'd go into this game having lost that extra edge which had characterised Saints play in recent weeks. The opposition were no mugs either despite a mixed first quarter and after we nicked a point at Dumfries in the season opener it was vital that we ensured they left McDiarmid empty-handed today.

Saints managed that and apart from some poor finishing could easily have managed to win by five or six. As it was the defence looked as solid as ever (allowing for Main's occasional lapse with his kicking) and while the midfield and forward line were misfiring at times, we were never in any real danger of losing any points. It's the sort of win that you have to grind out over a season and if it wasn't quite up there for entertainment and panache as recent weeks, the end result was more than acceptable. In fact, the only real downer on the day was what looked like a serious injury to Rocco in the second-half which led to the midfielder being stretchered off with a neck collar after a clash with O'Neill.

Even after a fortnight watching the national side turn into world beaters (well halfway at least, but it was still better than the bloody rugby), the injury worries hadn't managed to ease too much. The likes of McCluskey and Weatherston had come through relatively unscathed while Rustybitz continued his comeback, but the Mad Mental One was still ruled out and with players such as Savo and James unlikely to return until after the festive season we didn't need any further worries. So cue doubts over the Doc and Goran who were still suffering from anti-tetanus jabs administered after being in close physical contact with a Livi schemey first-teamer - both returned to the fray although Lawrie missed out through injury which meant a spot on the bench for David Weatherston. Meanwhile we'd been boosted by both Ando and Jacko signing two-year contract extensions during the fortnight off. For the opposition, ex-Saints Bingham and Dobbie could only manage a spot on the bench although the veteran Jamie McQuilken started at left-back.

As for the game, Saints started well enough. Queens had an early freekick which went well over the bar but Saints were soon on top. Three minutes gone and Jacko was fouled on the right touchline. Over came the freekick and up went Ando for a header. It was half-cleared to the edge of the box for Del who tried a low shot. That took a deflection off a defender and fell perfectly for the Doc three yards out but somehow he managed to sky the shot over the bar. The good start continued two minutes later with a Stanic throw-in headed out to McInnes who set up Jacko but his snapshot was well held by McDonald in the opposition goal. Rocco had a good cross cleared next but with ten minutes on the clock we took the lead with the simplest of goals. A good break from Saints found Gary Irvine and he sent a wonderful hanging deep cross over to the goal where the Doc rose up perfectly to head the ball home before the keeper was able to claim the cross. Another one for his granny then!!

Saints settled after that although Main had to look sharp to hold a cross after we conceded a soft corner. We were guilty of sitting too deep and resting on our laurels a bit. It wasn't helped by a mistake by Goran in the 19th minute with a slack passback with the error compounded by Main failing to clear his lines allowing O'Connor to round him but the striker's angled effort thankfully went wide. We hit back with Rocco making another powerful run and a clever one-two with Wullie but his eventual shot was blocked. More good play out wide on the right in the 25th minute should have given us a second goal when Irvine's good run ended in another inch-perfect cross into the six-yard box for the Doc who met it beautifully with a diving header but somehow managed to put the ball over the bar again when it seemed easier to score. Granny would not have been amused.

By this stage, the heavy tackles were starting to take their toll and Wullie was laid low in the 27th minute. A minute later and we should have scored with a good ball in the box headed in by the Doc from a yard out. The Doc had another effort in the 33rd minute when a neat through ball from Goran found him on the edge of the box and his turn and shot was well held by the keeper. Next up Irvine and Rocco linked up well on the right before Rocco cut along the byeline and chipped the ball into the box. The ball was met by a header but the effort was blocked on the line and a Saints foot tried to backheel it in only for the ball to spin up in the air and be punched clear. You began to wonder if it was going to be one of those days and we were just setting ourselves up for a counter-attack and dropped points.

Ando picked up the first booking of the game three minutes from the interval for a tug on a Queens player as he broke through. No qualms with the booking and the freekick didn't cause us any problems. A minute later and Thomson of the Doonhamers picked up a card for a heavy challenge on Del as Saints broke up the park. There wasn't much in the way of niggly play and to be fair to the referee he kept a tight control of things. The half finished with a couple of chances for Jacko with a good ball from Wullie setting him up for a run from the halfway line into the box only for Thomson to put in a good tackle to prevent a goal.

After the good performance in the first forty-five, the second period started disappointingly for Saints with a fairly casual attitude towards the game from the boys as Queens had a decent start - all the more annoying when it was plain that we shouldn't relax and rest on a single-goal lead. Wullie set up Rocco in the 51st minute but the midfielder's low drive was a weak effort that went well wide. We had some pressure but only a couple of crosses which the Queens defence comfortably dealt with. Goran had a decent long-range effort blocked in the 58th minute and almost immediately Queen of the South broke up the park with O'Connor making a good run only for an excellent Anderson tackle preventing the eventual shot.

Saints next move flirted with the edge of entertainment as some lovely one-touch play on the right saw Wullie, Rocco, Gary and Jacko link up before a nice chip into the area was met on the volley by Deuchar with McDonald again making a good save to prevent the goal. Wullie tried his luck next latching onto the end of a long goal kick and attempting a first- time effort that was deflected out for a corner. Ando headed the set piece wide of goal. Queens made the first change of the game with Dobbie putting down his pies to replace Robertson.

But it was Saints that were starting to create a stream of decent chances. Jacko and Wullie linked up in the 64th minute before the latter crossed deep into the box where Sheerin sent a powerful header straight at the keeper. Two minutes later though we got our rewards as Rocco chased a long ball into the right corner before sending a great cross over into the six yard box where Jacko rose up to head home to match Sammy Johnston's record of scoring in six home games on the trot. Two-nil up and suddenly it seemed that the points were in the bag and it was more a case of how many we'd get - certainly Queen of the South seemed to want nothing more than to hear the final whistle.

With twenty minutes remaining, Rocco was back on defensive duties and cleared a loose ball before being caught late by O'Neill. The Saints midfielder collapsed to the turf on his side and motionless. The referee didn't give a foul but the ball was soon out of play and the medics were on the park. The game was held up for a good five minutes as first the medics and then the Saints doctor attended the player. Eventually a neck collar was applied and he was gently removed from the pitch, with Mooner coming on to replace him. While the injury certainly looked serious, it's always hard to tell how much of the treatment is precautionary rather than necessary and hopefully he won't be out for long. It took a few minutes for play to get back to any real pace with the injury knocking the stuffing out of the players a bit. Dobbie sent a header wide in a rare Queen's attack.

For Saints the second substitution came in the 78th minute as Weatherston made a return to the first team on the right wing in place of Wullie who looked less than chuffed to be taken off. Within a minute Mooner and the Doc had combined to sent a neat through ball for Davie in the box but he hesitated before shooting and was eventually tackled when it seemed a lot simpler for him to score. Saints almost added a third with five minutes of normal time remaining as a deep ball found Jacko on the run on the inside left. He outpaced his markers and cut into the box before firing in a cracking shot that cannoned off the keeper's right-hand post. Sheerin was there to latch onto the rebound but somehow managed only to send the ball wide. Mooner's participation in the game ended three minutes later after he seemed to be suffering from the effects of a couple of hard falls and he was replaced by Peaso.

With plenty of injury time looming thanks to Quinn's injury, Saints tried to capitalise on their lead with a Sheerin corner ending up with a shot from Peaso and header from Weatherston going wide. Deuchar and Peaso next linked up on the left wing to cut into the box before sending a low ball in for Jacko twelve yards out but his powerful shot was blocked by Thomson with the defender taking one for the team in the process. Weatherston had a fresh air shot and Peaso a shot over as we kept pressing and the final shot also fell for Weatherston after Jacko's cutback was met by the sub only for McDonald to have another good save.

MoM for me today was Jackson who scored one and did a ton of running about as well as contributed a lot to the other attacks. But to be fair to the rest of the players, there were no really poor performances. Main's kicking was poor at times and Wullie and Sheerin seemed off the pace but all three came onto a better game. It was good to see Weatherston back in the side and causing trouble but the performances of the front men are what's giving so much confidence to the side just now, and given the players who are still due to return from injury, it means that Saints seem for once to have the sort of depth of squad that might just see us through for a whole campaign.

Seven in a row next week then?

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