Temple Of Saints - Job Well Done

Bells League Division One 26/01/2008

Saints 2 Stirling 1 League Table Here

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

After the resurgence in confidence that seemed to sweep the away support at East End Park last week after our first win at Dunfermline in yonks, it was back to Fortress McDiarmid today for another in the must- win category of games. We've not managed to beat Stirling yet this season and Moorie's side felt hard done by in the goalless freeze-fest that was served up to the foolhardy souls who made the trip down the A9. But with the results all finally going our way last weekend, there was a real expectation in the air that Del would get the team motivated to take all three points off a Stirling side that, well-organised as they are, had only won one league encounter all season. Of course there was still the wee Gremlin of Pessimism nagging away at the back of the mind that said that this could also end up being a major banana skin and we'd blow everything we achieved seven days ago.

The Gremlins were eventually calmed though with a deserved win for Saints albeit one we had to scrap for at times after some casual play let the Binos back into the game. But a solid performance throughout the side and the signs that the extra work in training is starting to pay off on the park as the workrate and movement from the players looks a lot sharper. Two good goals added the icing to the cake and while there was some casual play creeping in at times, the players thoroughly deserved their win and hopefully the boost to the confidence will see us maybe just maybe get a challenge going.

There were no new injury worries from last weekend and while Caff, James, Mad Mental Martin, Danny McBreen and Jinky were all either out or short of match fitness, we had at least avoided any injuries the previous weekend. Mooner had missed some training due to his back injury, but returned by the end of the week although Mr Daal definitely missed out after his post-final-whistle red card at Dunfermline. Rusty was flirting with a suspension but most of the pre-match focus had been on Alan Main who notched up his 300th appearance for Saints today to move to 5th in the all-time record - although most of us to be honest would be happy with another clean sheet. So Saints lined up with an unchanged starting eleven from last week but made a couple of changes on the bench as Moon and Bobby Barr came in for Daal and Derek McInnes. For the Binos, there were plenty of familiar faces on show with Ross Forsyth and John Paul McBride starting for them and Derek Lilley in the dugout alongside Allan Moore who modelled a natty line in plus fours today.

Given that most of us were grateful that we even had a game to watch today, the opening stages of the game saw us grab the play by the scruff of the neck. The pitch had drained well following the midweek rain but the heavy surface seemed to suit us. Jacko had the first decent run in the third minute before being up-ended but Sheerin's freekick from the inside left went across the area and straight out. While that wasn't too inspiring, the first goal came a couple of minutes later and was sheer joy to behold. Liam Craig picked up a square ball in the middle of the park and won the header before turning and going on a run up the left side before cutting across the middle of the park and playing a lovely through ball behind Forsyth for the onrushing Jacko who got into the box and fired a tight angled shot across the goal past Hogarth and in off his right-hand post to give us the lead.

The game was being played at a hectic pace with Saint dominating the midfield mainly through Craig and Sheerin with both Stanic and Irvine getting plenty of room on the flanks to push forward. Goran picked up a nice lay off from Savo in the 9th minute but his cross for Sheerin at the far post wasn't met cleanly and went behind. A minute later Savo was brought down on the left wing and from the freekick Sheerin sent the ball into the box where Cameron rose up to power in a header from the edge of the box which the keeper held. We weren't creating too many clear cut chances as Stirling defended well (Ellis in particular mopping up most of the high balls) but at the same time the midfield and defence were knocking the ball about comfortably. Craig was at the heart of most of the moves from midfield and he had another good run up the centre of the park in the 15th minute but instead of laying the ball off to Savo or Jacko he went for the shot firing in a strong low shot which Hogarth managed to hold on the second attempt.

Irvine tried a cross that was cleared before Stirling created their first real chance in the 20th minute. Taggart broke down the wing and skinned Irvine before the cross came into the box. It was headed down band only half-cleared before Liam was there to finally clear the danger. The ball broke to Jacko and as he and Savo broke up the park before Jacko sent a cross in which was held. Next up was another long ball found Peaso and he played a neat backheel on the left touchline for Goran who took the ball into the box only to be tackled. Another patient build-up from midfield a few minutes later saw Goran finally lay the ball off for Craig who tried another shot from the edge of the box which went wide of the post.

We were struggling to carve out any clear cut scoring chances but looked comfortable enough as Stirling were pinned back into their own half for most of the game. Eleven minutes from the interval and more good linkup play on the left from Goran and Peaso ended up setting up Jacko who passed the ball to Craig for a shot only for the offside flag to chalk his effort off. Albion managed another attack a couple of minutes later with a freekick into the box which Main punched clear. Jackson latched onto the ball and tore up the park only to be hauled down on the halfway line by Aitken with the Binos skipper getting the first yellow card of the game for his troubles. The freekick was played into the box where Peaso headed it down for Rustybitz to lay off for Craig but again the shot was wide of goal.

Saints came closer in the 38th minute after some more great skill on the left which saw Goran round Nugent to get to the goalline. He took the ball into the box and played a great cutback into the 6yd box where Jacko turned and volleyed it beautifully - unfortunately straight at Hogarth. Nugent picked up Stirling's second booking for going through Goran (who was picking up a fair few knocks). The freekick into the box ended with Rusty heading the ball down for Peaso who forced a corner. Sheerinho's inswinger was held. Saints were still enjoying most of the play but it seemed at times we were concentrating too many of the balls down the left wing while Irvine and Jacko were in plenty of room on the other wing, possibly as a result of the left-sided domination in midfield with Cameron, Craig and Sheerin seemingly one-footed at times. As it was all the play didn't get us any further in front with the half ending with an Anderson header going wide and Savo losing out on a chase for a loose ball.

The second-half seemed to start well enough for us with Savo playing a nice one-two with Irvine for a cross that won us a corner - needless to say it was easily cleared. A second corner three minutes later found Rustybitz but his header was held. And two minutes later we were punished for it. A long loose ball down the right was chased down by an Albion player and somehow, when it seemed easier to clear the danger, Anderson was sucked into conceding a freekick on the goalline. That was cutback to Aitken at the edge of the box and he somehow managed to get a low drive off that went through a melee of legs and under Main (who was probably unsighted) into the net. You'd thought they'd won the cup by their reaction, although it was more of a concern for Saints are our heads went well and truly down - only Savo's cross for Cameron's first touch to miss caused the opposition defence any concern.

Suddenly it seemed that we were bereft of ideas and Stirling were coming back into the game more and more with McBride trying his luck from the edge of the box with a shot that went over the bar. Del decided to freshen things up with the Mooner coming on to replace Cameron. Initially he had little impact with Saints only really threatening from a set piece with a Sheerin freekick after Jacko was again fouled easily cleared. We had a bit more luck with another freekick in the 59th minute after Irvine had been downed heavily. Sheerin's freekick found the mark this time and was headed on towards the back post where it fell perfectly for Rustybitz who fired in a cracking volley that curled towards the far corner but ended up going just wide. Three minutes later the usual selfish run from Peaso found Sheerin getting onto the loose ball before releasing Jacko who cut inside and had a shot that took a deflection before landing for Savo - he was correctly ruled offside.

The chances were coming thick and fast as we began to get a grip of the game with Mooner seeing his effort blocked a minute later but the rebound from Craig was held. It wasn't all one-way though and Stirling broke up the park next with Paartalu through - he was a mile offside but luckily Goran got back to cover. Back up the other end Savo turned provider to release Jacko who again ended up in the air (Ellis picking up a booking). The freekick ended up in another header being held. Peaso was replaced by Weatherston in the 67th minute and the home fans and the players seemed to get a lift with Kevin's subtle announcement that Queen of the South were beating Dundee. Within a minute Weatherston had his first run at a tiring Stirling defence but Craig managed to lose the ball.

Craig had a header held and a shot blocked while Savo saw a header easily held before we finally broke through in the 73rd minute with some individual brilliance. A good break up the right saw the ball fed to the Mooner. He rode through one tackle and with everyone expecting a pass elected to cut inside and go for a rocket of a shot from the edge of the box which blasted into the back of the net to make it 2-1. The weight was lifted and Saints began to press forward looking for a third helped by the fact that Stirling couldn't sit back any more. Mooner had another shot blocked while Del made his third change as McManus came on for Irvine - the latter looking like he picked up an injury as he went straight up the tunnel for treatment. Weatherston had another good run up the wing in the 79th minute ended when Forsyth took him out (earning a booking in the process). Stanic took the freekick but Hogarth did well to hold it.

Craig had a decent claim for a penalty a minute later when he was downed in the box but referee Thomson (who had a pretty good game overall) waived play on. We had the ball in the net in the 81st minute after a Sheerin corner found Mooner and he laid the ball through to Ando. He was ruled offside but decided to score anyway earning himself a daft booking in the process. The final few minutes were fairly quiet as Stirling ran out of ideas. Their only real chance came in the 88th minute when they broke to the edge of the box and thanks to a bad backpass from Sheerin, Paartalu was in for a shot that Main turned round the post. The final chance fell to us though with Weatherston combining to set up Jacko but the final shot went over the bar.

Can't complain about the performance, when we should have won by more. Jacko and Moon both took their goals well and while we were never really threatened much, the defence had a good game as well. The big plus though had to be that again Del showed a willingness to change things round when we looked a bit shaky - the introduction of Moon and Weatherston added more of a balance to the side that had seemed content to press down the left wing only for most of the game. But for me MoM has to go to Liam Craig who put in a ton of running and hard work for the entire 90 minutes that

With results going our way elsewhere (well almost), we have to have a fair bit of confidence now for the rest of the season and for the cup next week.

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