Saints 1 TFOD 1 (aet. Bigots win 4-3 on penalties)
Team : Main, Irvine, Stanic, Morris, Rutkiewicz,
McManus, Savo, Hardie, Moon, Jacko, Craig, Peaso
Subs: Cuthbert, James, Anderson, Sheerin, McBreen
In the end the season seemed to boil down to this one game, although there was a fair degree of optimism going into the encounter that we might manage another cup match towards the end of next month. With a place against QoS in the final and the chance to ruin Chic Young's day (albeit at the expense of more fermer stereotyped clichés than you could waive a Paisley junkie needle at), there was plenty of incentive for Saints. But despite the late win against the men from Greenock last weekend, the confidence and form going into this encounter was a totally different affair to the one this time last year when a team under Owen Coyle (who he?) took on the other half of the Bigot Brothers. But even if our league form this year hasn't lived up to standards we had, like our opponents today, managed to get a trophy under our belt this season and in normal time as well - so the omens were there. And if we needed inspiration, last weekend's heroics by the men from Dumfries, showed that the SPL sides weren't unbeatable and we only had to go back a season to remember our last victory over The Forces Of Darkness.
On the downside, the mob from the Death Star had been unbeaten in donkeys and were chasing four trophies this season - no mean achievement especially when all the referees and meedja are naturally antagonistic towards them. Added to that guys like McGregor needed the win bonuses to keep his harem in perfume, while Cuellar needed all the cash he could get to persuade a plastic surgeon to try and make him look a little less neanderthal (well who wants to look like a Rangers fan) and of course Bazza's elocution lessons don't come cheap. The big worry for the SFA though was the weather and the thought that a wee bit of sunshine would mean even more of the peely wally unwashed Govan hordes would feel the urge to take their tops off and display their historic tattoos - mind you even that would have paled into comparison at the thought of an all-First Division final. Just think of all those new names the media would have had to learn.
As it was, we ended up suffering heartbreak at least as bad, if not worse than last season. The boys gave their absolute all and they can all hold their heads up high tonight after serving up a brilliant performance over 120 minutes of cracking football. It was bad enough to lose on penalties but after leading in extra-time we conceded a soft penalty and it led to the inevitable. It will no doubt lead to words like "plucky" adorning the papers tomorrow - right now it's of little comfort to the players left in tears at the final whistle.
Going into the game, we hadn't had our problems to seek - and I don't just mean the descriptions "Rangers-daft" or "Celtic-daft" appearing before every bloody player's name in the press coverage for the last week. There had been another wonderful example of traditional Scottish journalism with the alleged dirt the Waily Retard shoved on their front pages - at least it meant the man in the street knew we were playing one of the Bigot Brothers. While Captain Kev, Mad Mental Martin and Barbie McBreen had all returned to action against Morton last weekend, there was little chance they would get more than a spot on the bench today due to a lack of match fitness more than anything else. Rocco Quinn was the other major doubt and the hamstring problem that had kept him out the last few weeks beat the midfielder as he was ruled out for not just the semi-final but the rest of the season. But the club and fans had been boosted by the news that Liam Craig, Peaso and Hardie had all signed new contracts on Friday afternoon which at least showed some backing for the manager. Elsewhere and Jody and Rustybitz had missed out last weekend but had been back in training this week and both started along with Mad Mental Martin. Savo fitted in behind the front two while Sheerinho dropped to the bench.
For "Them", the indiscipline and thuggery shown against TFOE during the week meant that David Weir got to sit home an sook on his Werther's Originals for the afternoon. Added to that McGregor's ankle injury and a lack of brain in Lee McCulloch meant that obviously TFOD were well under-strength. Aye right. Wally "I saw nothing" Smith went with a starting lineup with Cuellar, Whittaker and Dailly in defence. No Bazza or Boyd with Novo and Naismith up front and the likes of Burke in midfield.
The atmosphere before kick-off was fairly good although the scum were subdued. There was a bit of a worry about the player's concentration pre- match especially Peaso as the biased SFA tried to distract him with some ropey cheerleaders. But a quick clip round the head from a teammate sorted him out.
Saints started sharply with a good first minute cross from Craig just wide of goal. A minute later Goran sent a long ball forward for Peaso and he tried his luck from long-range but the shot was easily held. The game was being played at a frantic pace with the Dark Ones threatening in the 4th minute through a Whittaker cross that was flicked on but gathered by Main. The first real drama occurred in the seventh minute as Rustybitz broke out of defence. He sent the ball forward for Peaso who was clobbered. Evil Empire Stormtrooper Chris Burke went down trying to tackle the Saints skipper and he ended up being stretchered off. The freekick was eventually taken and sent wide for Hardie who played it inside to Peaso who went down - no penalty was awarded. Buffel (remember him?) came on to replace Burke but it was Novo who angered the Saints fans in the tenth minute with a dive on the edge of the box after a McManus challenge - the coagey history shone through though as Novo's collapse ended up in the box. The freekick over was punched clear by Main.
The Saints keeper got into trouble three minutes later when Cousin ran wide. Main came out to clear but mistimed his run and when the ball came over, the danger was only cleared by the Arse of Stanic. More drama came a minute later when Hardie broke out of defence again - this time Naismith was left down in his wake. The Dark One recovered but within four minutes he was stretchered off with Steve Davis quitting snooker to come off the bench (cue a chant of "Only One Alex Higgins" from some wags in the Saints support). The game was still pretty much end-to-end though. Savo ended a good run being up-ended only to receive no freekick while Irvine managed to put a couple of crosses wide. TFOD came closest with a Thomson shot wide of target although he got too much room to get in on goal.
They managed to get the ball in the net after some pressure in the 26th minute but Buffel was correctly adjudged to be offside - still it seemed to waken the Bigots up from their slumber for a few seconds before they went back to their conspiracy theories. We came close a couple of minutes later after Peaso was sent flying on the right wing. Morris sent the freekick in which was only half headed clear to Irvine who volleyed the ball in where it deflected for Savo but he was ruled offside. TFOD went straight up the park and a long ball found Cousin who managed to con the linesman into keeping his flag down - Morris did well to get back and clear the danger.
The first booking came on the half-hour after Irvine and Savo linked to send Jacko clear down the right only for Dailly to scythe him down. Booking for him. The freekick from Ruti went straight into the Rangers' penalty area for Hardie but he was off balance and couldn't control the ball. Again TFOD counter- attacked and left us open but Main was sharp to get out of his box and clear the danger. Two minutes later though and it seemed like the cockups had come back to haunt us. Stanic was woefully short with a backpass and McManus couldn't get back allowing two of "Them" to get into the box but Main came out to force the shot and the ball went wide of goal - cue a mass sigh of relief from the lively Saints support.
Hardie had a shot from an Irvine cross while Davis shot over despite being offside as play switched from end-to-end. Dailly clattered into Jacko again before we went into the four minutes of injury time for the first half. That ended with a good Saints break seeing Hardie play the ball through the middle for Peaso who then spread it out for Jacko on the right only for Dailly to blatantly obstruct the Saints player.
No changes at half-time and TFOD started a bit better. Two minutes gone and they were given too much room to send a cross in from the right that Novo headed goalwards only for Main to pull off a great save and tip the ball over the bar before cleanly grabbing the resulting corner. For Saints some pressure saw Stanic win a header forward for Jacko who laid the ball back to Hardie but the Mad Mental One's shot went over. Savo and Peaso were at the heart of the next break but when that was broken up TFOD sent the ball deep for Davis and he was only prevented from shooting thanks to a great Stanic tackle.
Thomson had a weak shot go wide before our next effort in the 53rd minute. A throw-in on the far side found Goran whose cross into the box was headed back over by Hardie for an unmarked Savo. He turned and volleyed the ball but sent it just over the bar when it seemed easier to keep it down for a shot. Novo and Whittaker had shots for them but there was little real threat to Main's goal with all of the Saints back four playing at the top of their game. We were struggling to get moving in midfield but a good break in the 58th minute saw Jacko and Craig link up well with the latter making a rare foray to the byeline before cutting the ball back to find Savo but his header went over. A minute later we won a freekick from another Dailly foul (the referee's definition of persistent being stretched to the limit this afternoon). Craig sent that in but again the ball was headed over Alexander's bar this time from Hardie.
We were getting into the game a lot more and growing in confidence. A freekick forward in the 61st minute found Hardie on the right and when he crossed the ball in there was a blatant handball from one of the Dark Ones. The freekick was at the edge of the box on the right and Craig sent it low across the area but the shot in was held by the keeper. Another good move four minutes later saw Irvine, Jacko and Peaso work well to cross the ball over for Savo. He was crowded out but the ball broke to Craig whose shot was held. Full credit to the Saints players who were fighting for every lose ball now and making the most of their possession. Rangers still threatened though and Cousin had a shot held.
The first Saints change came with twenty minutes left as Hardie was replaced by Sheerinho although the Mental One was more than a tad dischuffed and vented his frustrations on a water bottle. Within a minute Supersub almost gave us the lead getting onto a ball out on the left and making a good run into the box before firing a low drive just wide of goal. Craig had switched to the right-win and was linking well with Irvine and causing Dailly all sorts of problems, although for some reason, the dodgy-permed defender was taking out most of his frustrations on Jacko. Another foul on the Saints striker in the 75th minute ended in a freekick half-cleared to Sheerin who played it in for Jacko but the keeper gathered the ball. TFOD hit back with a good run from Whittaker (helped by most of the yellow shirts standing off him). Main came out though and made a great block to concede only a corner and that was safely headed over by one of them.
McBreen came on to replace Peaso for the last ten minutes as both teams went for broke. Within a minute he'd been assaulted from behind by Dailly. The ball broke to Savo but his shot was blocked. Rangers came back at us but Main pulled off another good block although the flag was already up for offside. The pace of the game was starting to tell and Stanic was the first to go down with cramp. Saints tried a Sheerin cross that was held and then we won a corner thanks to Craig's persistence. That too was held before they broke up the park. Stanic was beaten by Novo and the ball came over for Cousin but Main came out to make a good save at his feet. Two minutes later and Buffel was through beating three in the box before a brilliant tackle from Rustybitz with Irvine conceding a corner. That came over and seemed netbound but Craig cleared it off the line.
Novo won another corner in the 89th minute but Main held the resulting header. Saints won a corner as the game moved to injury time but it was rushed and easily cleared. Rangers went up the park and from a cross Cousin fired in a good header which beat Main but somehow Jody got back to clear it off the line. Two minutes into injury time and Craig took the ball forward and found McBreen but his header from 15yds out was held. Normal time finished with another corner for them but Main again stood firm.
Both
sides made changes before extra time with Broadfoot replacing Smith and
Ando on for Goran - he went to right-back, Irvine moved to midfield and
Craig dropped to left-back. Three minutes after the restart and the place
erupted. Some good play taking the ball forward saw the ball sent to
McBreen who held it up well before playing in Jacko. He sent it wide to
Sheerin on the left wing in loads of room and his
absolutely-bloody-perfect cross was missed by "Them"'s defence
but found McBreen at the back post with a diving header across Alexander
and into the net. There was a few seconds of stunned silence before the
place went mental. Suddenly the belief was there.
Two minutes later an almost identical move saw the ball out wide to Sheerinho once more and his cross in for Danny went out for a corner. This time Ruti was up but his header was well wide. We kept up the pressure though and Craig had a decent run end with a foul by Buffel - with no freekick awarded. TFOD had some pressure but Ruti and McManus seemed okay but 12 minutes into extra time more pressure in saw the ball played into the box for Cousin. He went down as he turned with Irvine in close attendance and the referee pointed to the spot - I mean you could just see it coming. Novo took the kick and scored suddenly waking up the unwashed hordes in the rest of the ground.
Saints tried to hit back and we won a couple of corners but Alexander held one and the second ended up in a game of head tennis in the box before Jody sent it out for Craig whose cutback was headed wide.
The second period of extra-time started lively enough with a nice Novo dive giving us a good idea of how desperate Wally's mob were becoming. Another cross in the box saw Main fouled and then four minutes after the restart Savo and Jacko linked well but the cross was cleared. They broke up the park but Buffel shot wide.
It was obvious that both sides were tiring now but in the 22nd minute we could have regained the lead. Jacko made a good run before sending the ball back to Irvine on the right and his ball into the box was mis-kicked by one of their defenders allowing Savo in but his angled shot was inches over the bar. Buffel won a freekick that was cleared and McManus dealt with a Whittaker cross. Two minutes from the end and another ball into the Saints box found Novo but his shot came back off the post. Buffel was in there for the rebound but somehow Main recovered to make the save.
TFOD got another break thanks to Dougie McDonald's interception of a Morris pass but Main again held out. The final move saw Saints go forward through the tireless Savo who linked with McBreen and Sheerin before the ball was sent into the box where McBreen tried an overhead kick that took a deflection and fell to Jacko but yet again the flag was up for offside.
So to penalties. Sheerin and Davis both scored the first ones followed by Craig and Broadfoot. Saints third penalty was Savo's but his effort was saved and then that wee shite Novo scored. Jacko put his away but Hemdani came up and Main made a great block. That made it 3-3 going into the final round. Up stepped Morris (surprisingly) but his low effort was again blocked by Alexander. That left Cousin to twist the knife and he put his effort past Main to allow QoS into Europe.
Almost immediately the unwashed hordes departed the stadium barely waiting to waive their Irish / English flags, while for Saints the world seemed to collapse. Savo was in tears and the rest of the players looked totally dejected. They took the applause but in the end that's all they got for some wonderful efforts on the day. MoM for me is a hard one but I'm going for Rustybitz. Nobody had a really bad game (although if we were being picky both Stanic and Jacko struggled a bit). Main was outstanding in goal and Irvine and McManus played well while Hardie ran his arse off in the middle of the park and Savo was a bundle of energy for the whole two hours. And some praise too for McBreen - he scored a good goal and added some bite when we needed it to the attack.
Next year maybe?
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