Raith 1 Saints 1 (Saints eventually bloody win on penalties)
Team: Main, Lawrie, Stanic, McInnes, McManus, Pamela,
Weatherston, Hardie, Stewart, McCluskey, Sheerinho
Subs : Cat, Daal, Dyer, Peaso, Jackson
With the faith of the fans following the opening league games looking as solid as our defence, there was a break from league action to head to Kirkcaldy tonight to take on Raith in yet another attempt to try and pretend that the "Sponsored by Nobody" Challenge Cup was worth fighting for - and given the attitude and hunger shown by some of the boys against Stirling at the weekend, it was also arguably a chance for Owen to give some of the fringe players a chance to show their worth. But at the same time, Stark's Park has never been a great hunting ground for Saints over the years and the current Fife side are doing pretty well in the 2nd Division under John McGlynn. We did win through but if you're looking for anything at all to give you a glimmer of hope ahead of the visit of the Scum at the weekend then I'd go elsewhere now - what follows doesn't make pleasant reading as, bar one or two notable exceptions Saints were an absolute shambles on the night and bore about as much resemblance to a football team as Dens does to a modern stadium. Quite simply we were shocking and while in games up to now there have been players who have been reliable in Peaso, Hardie and Sheerin, tonight any semblance of competence was missing from the side as we struggled in the conditions against a Rovers side who even when they were reduced to ten men for the extra-time drama still looked more threatening going forward. Too many of the players on show tonight lacked hunger, discipline and any sort of winning attitude. I lost count of the number of times Saints players pulled up instead of chasing a perfectly winnable ball. It simply won't do and Owen has to sort things out before we really get into a rut.
Steven Anderson was finally available after suspension. Elsewhere the defence was looking like the walking wounded already with James missing out on Saturday and Rustybitz putting himself through the wars for the cause. Midfield saw us hoping for a chance for McCluskey to get to show what he was capable of while hopefully up front we'd finally see some goals from the various strike pairing permutations. As it was Owen went for a more unorthodox pairing of Stewart and McCluskey up front with the latter sitting in behind the former. Elsewhere the midfield was unchanged from Saturday while Pamela started in place of the injured Rustybitz. McInnes skippered the team as well which came as a surprise.
The first sign that it was going to be one of those nights game within the first minute as the first challenge from McManus earned him a booking from a pretty fussy referee. The freekick flew into the Saints box and Lawrie was again slow to get over and clear the danger but Main made a decent block before the ball was cleared. Our first half-chance came from a long goal kick a few minutes later but Stewart's effort went straight at the keeper. Then good linkup play from Sheerin, Goran and Stewart released Weatherston on the right and his run into the box ended up with an attempt to chip the keeper. Unfortunately the ball went wide and behind the goal which caused some confusion in the away end where there was a good sized travelling support. Even allowing for the miss it was a decent sign of the sort of flowing football we'd been hoping to see.
Jinky was next to get in on the action as he caused all sorts of problems for Tod and Andrews with his bag of tricks. He was at the heart of most of the creative Saints play and quite simply lit up the game with plenty of tricks, but more importantly an ability to actually control and hold onto the ball as well as read the game a lot better than you'd expect for his years. Unfortunately the rest of the central midfield weren't as quick to get going and it seemed at times that Saints was like one of those school teams where everything gets channelled through two or three players and the rest are just there to make up the numbers.
Raith forced a couple of corners (some deserved, some courtesy of a crap refereeing decision) but only threatened once in the twelfth minute when the ball was played to the back post where Andrews powered a header in that Main did well to save. A minute later though a cracking ball from McCluskey found Weatherston on the right and he sprinted through the Rovers defence before being brought down by Andrews in the box. The referee decided to keep his cards in his pocket despite a decent case for last man but at least he awarded the penalty. Up stepped Sheerin and for the third time this season made no mistake from the spot to give us the lead. That seemed to encourage us a bit more and we began to press a bit harder although McManus and Hardie were both judged to have fouled defenders anytime we got the ball into the home area.
Of course there was still plenty of opportunity for the Gods of Football to remind us that we have a bunch of idiots playing at times and in the 17th minute Alan Main, a man who is not known for his wonderful kicking skills came out of the box to the left side to get a loose ball. One crappy pass- cum-clearance later and he's left stranded miles from his now open goal and the ball is at the foot of a Raith player who decided to try his luck with a long-range punt which curled towards the goal. But just to show the Gods of Football have a sense of humour, the ball hit the bar and went out of play. Cue a massive sigh of relief from the away fans along with not a few mutterings of "bloody stupid thing to do anyway".
But now Main had set the standard of cock-up, the rest of them had to get in on the act as well with first of all Weatherston and Lawrie missing the ball on the wing before Ando also fresh-aired the resulting cross before Rovers shot wide. Raith were forced into a change midway through the half with Mark Campbell coming on to replace the injured Hislop which meant Tod was moved up front. On the park McCluskey was warned for diving after another good run ended up in him being upended. The game was pretty scrappy with some hefty challenges earning random decisions from the referee with Andrews not punished for clambering over Hardie but Saints penalised for some close offside decisions. Stewart had been pretty anonymous until now but managed to pressurise Campbell in the 27th minute and win the ball at the Raith corner flag. Unfortunately his final cross into the box was a weak one and easily held.
McCluskey set up Lawrie next and he fed the ball onto Weatherston who in turn cut the ball back into Jinky. One wee hop, skip and jump later and he made room for a good direct shot that went just over the bar. The midfield was showing a lot more movement and creativity compared with the weekend but to be honest that all seemed to be down to McCluskey who covered almost every blade of grass. He won a 32nd minute freekick on the edge of the box but Sheerin managed to blast the ball over the bar. Weatherston set up Stewart on a run into the box but the Rovers defence closed him down easily as chances were at a premium. Still five minutes from the break a harmless ball into the Raith box found no yellow shirt present. That didn't stop Mark Campbell trying to get in on the act with an attempted header back towards the goal that left his keeper wrong-footed and went just wide of the post. From the corner Ando fired in a decent header but the ball went into the keeper's arms.
McCluskey and Stewart combined next and after the latter was knocked over, Jinky took the ball in and fired a shot just over the bar. That was enough for the Raith no 6 and in the last minute of the first period he went in heavily and two-footed from behind on Jinky leaving the player needing treatment and earning himself a booking for a nasty challenge. McCluskey recovered though and managed another couple of good runs before the break.
The second-half started brighter for the home side with a couple of early crosses testing Main. Five minutes into the half and the Saints defence again stood off the Raith attack although luckily Ando managed to get in and block the final shot. Even that led to a couple of corners that we barely managed to clear with only Anderson from the back four looking anything like good enough. Goran especially was having a bad time of it on the left with no sign of any understanding between him and an equally lethargic Sheerin. McInnes and Hardie combined in the 54th minute to lose the ball and give away a soft foul on the edge of the box. The freekick was deflected over the bar for a corner and from it Tod managed an unmarked header which again went over the bar. It wasn't exactly inspiring stuff and in addition the front trio of Weatherston, Stewart and McCluskey all looked jaded.
More slack defending though on the hour mark allowed Rovers into the box for a shot that brought out a good block from Alan Main. Even then Lawrie was unable to clear the ball properly with his confidence looking shot to pieces. Owen made a double substitution a minute later with McCluskey and Stewart replaced by Peaso and Daal and it was noticeable how we looked a lot slower in midfield, never mind defence where Lawrie lost out on another simple ball which forced Ando to concede a corner. We looked tired all over.
Still there was the odd chance and in the 68th minute Hardie played a long ball forward for Weatherston to run onto and he sent in a good cross for Peaso which was blocked by the keeper. Two minutes after that and it was Raith's turn to threaten with a simple long freekick finding Andrews in the box and his header brought out a great double save from Main at what looked like point-blank range to push the ball over the bar. The resulting corner was swung in and cleared off the line by Ando. He picked up a knock a minute later after a run the length of the pitch ended in what looked like a thigh knock, but he was able to carry on.
With the game entering the closing stages both sides pressed more and it began to open up with Saints coming close in the 75th minute after Peaso and Sheerin linked well to spread the ball wide for Weatherston cutting in from the right but his well-struck low drive was again blocked by the keeper. Two minutes later and a long ball found Daal who set up Peaso but his turn and shot was blocked by the goalie. At the other end, Raith forced a corner of their own but Main was alert enough to eventually punch the ball clear. Daal was set up by Sheerin 9 minutes from the end of normal time but the defence cleared the danger. The ball went only as far as Goran and he combined with Hardie on the left touchline to send in a shot that was well blocked. Three minutes later Hardie leapfrogged a challenge on the with before trying a curling shot that went across the goal and just wide of the far post.
Daal got onto the end of a long clearance next but his shot from a tight angle was easily held - not that his decision to shoot went down well with an unmarked Sheerin and in another wonderful example of the team bonding we love the pair of them had a real barney. Peaso was the next one to show off his greed with a shot in that the keeper came out and blocked - again there were others in room for a shot but obviously the strikers are getting desperate. More desperation was shown as Raith pressed with Hardie conceding a daft freekick in the 88th minute which earned him a booking and one too for McInnes who broke early from the wall. The retake was deflected out for a corner. That one was cleared but in the final minute the by-now- traditional sucker punch came. Ando made a rare mistake in defence and allowed Raith into the box but Main pulled off a brilliant double save. Unfortunately the resulting corner didn't find him so sharp and Tod got up to fire in a cracking header to make it 1-1.
Even then the normal drama wasn't over and a two-footed challenge from the Rovers no 6 earned him his second yellow and a red card. Saints pressed into injury time but Daal saw a run end with a foul by Campbell (that earned the defender a booking) while the final chance fell to Daal again as Weatherston played the ball in but his shot went straight to the keeper.
So to extra-time and with a one-man advantage Saints pressed early and should have scored within the first minute as Weatherston broke down the right and sent a perfect cross in for the unmarked Daal but Dyron managed to head the ball over. Another Mullet run and cross a minute later saw the keeper make a good catch. Rovers pressed back but Saints were controlling the play without really threatening as too often the final ball was a poor one, with the effect also being noted in the lack of discipline (as demonstrated by Hardie and Goran having a go at one another). Eight minutes in and Peaso won a freekick on the wing. Sheerinho sent the ball over and it was headed on for Hardie at the back post but he managed to shoot over the bar. Hardie took another freekick four minutes later but sent it round a wall and wide of the goal.
The second period continued in the same way with Peaso setting up Daal but he tried to walk the ball into the net and lost it. Lawrie fired in a cross that Hardie headed over but we were starting to run out of ideas. Graeme Weir of Rovers picked up a booking for another nasty challenge on Ando while Hardie and Goran had efforts blocked. Anderson was replaced by Jackson for the last five minutes but with Marvin Andrews strolling through the game without breaking sweat and mopping up all the high balls we couldn't make any headway. The final effort came courtesy of a good cross by Daal but Jacko's header was held.
So to penalties and the first four for each side were all scored with Hardie, Sheerin, Peaso and Jacko banging them in for Saints. Then up stepped Stanic and Mr Cool shot the ball over the bar leaving the home fans behind the goal in raptures. Their sub came up to take their fifth kick and Main decided to start earning his keep with a great save to take it to sudden death. Dyron stepped up next and despite looking nervous he sent a low kick into the bottom left with the keeper going the other way to make it 5-4. Up stepped Andy Tod for Rovers' sixth kick and Main made a great block to take us through to the delights of the 2nd round. Not that the team celebrated much with Owen having to force some of them to come up the other end of the park and acknowledge the fans.
So despite not winning in 90 minutes again we at least saw the strikers put the ball into the net tonight. MoM has to go to Main for the saves although it's with the condition that he practices his bloody kicking this week and promises not to leave his box again. I've also got to single out Jamie McCluskey who had a brilliant hour on the park and looks to be the bargain of the signings. For the rest only Ando, McManus (who recovered well from his early booking) and Weatherston deserve any praise. The rest of them looked bored and almost as if they didn't want to be there. Suffice to say that if they don't buck up their ideas, come the end of August a few of them won't be.
We play like that against the Scum and we'll be slaughtered. And then Owen might see what the fans look like when the patience runs out.
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