Saints 1 St Midden 1
Team : Main, Irvine, Stanic, Anderson, Rutkiewicz,
McManus, Morris, Craig, Jacko, Savo, Peaso
Subs: Cuthbert, James, Sheerin, Wilson, Rocco
After blowing things so spectacularly last week and leaving the faithful on a downer, the players today had a chance to redeem themselves slightly as we took a break from the fun and games of the First Division with the quarter-final cup tie at home to St Midden a team who despite our recent rivalry with, we've not faced for a few years after Gus managed to secure their place in the top flight (fairly easy this season given the Gr£tna factor). That's not to say old grudges would be forgotten with Alan Main such a popular figure down Paisley way. The main hope before the game though was that we'd be able to concentrate on the football (preferably the players doing so for the 90 minutes plus injury time - something Kevin Rutkiewicz pointed out we failed to do last week) and that the local glaziers would be disappointed at the lack of new business come the final whistle. If nothing else, it was going to prove a big test of the McInnes and Docherty management team's ability to bounce back from a very frustrating performance against a Paisley mob that had already claimed the scalp of the Arabs in the previous round.
Even the pundits found this one hard to call pre-match and both sets of fans weren't exactly confidently predicting what the final score would be with the BBC managing to drag themselves out of Wegieland long enough to make us the main highlights game. As it was, the game itself was a well-contested affair played at a high pace and only really spoilt by the conditions with a swirling wind. And despite the result, Del can be proud of the players and the workrate they showed for the ninety minutes and we possibly could have sneaked a win at the end. We've got a tougher game at Love Street to come but going by the show today, we should have nothing, absolutely nothing to fear.
Prior to the match, there was some expectations that Del might ring the changes after last week, with Ando and Craig back from their suspension. Of the new signings Barry Wilson and Jody Morris were available but an ankle injury had meant that Sean Lynch had joined the rest of the Treatment Room Team. That of course included Andy Lawrie ruled out for the rest of the season, Caff, Danny McBreen, Jinky "One Foot" McCluskey and Gregg Cameron. Meanwhile Martin Hardie wasn't ready yet as he continued his nineteenth attempt at resuming his training schedule. But on the plus side Kevin James had shaken off the flu, Mooner had recovered from his virus and Rocco Quinn had managed to train - although his current injury seemed to mean that the on-loan midfielder was a mere shadow of the player that had impressed us (and Sellik's accounts dept) towards the tail end of last year. The starting eleven therefore saw Ando in at right-back while Irvine moved up to the right side of midfield while Morris started in the middle instead of Rocco and Liam took over from Sheerin who dropped to the bench.
Blatter and Platini managed to finish off their scotch eggs and chicken vol au vents in hospitality as they took their seats in the main stand ready to see what real total football is about - none of yer namby-pamby passing routine when you can just blooter it up the park. So the game started with Saints enjoying the wind at their backs in front of a 6000+ crowd. Within thirty seconds, Peaso had broken down the left and tried his luck with a long-range shot that went wide of target. We looked nervous at the back in the opening stages but St Mirren struggled to get forward - a second minute Ando slip up was easily covered by Rustybitz. Saints won their first corner in the fourth minute when Morris and Irvine showed good persistence on the left to allow Liam to win a corner. That was cleared but a minute later Jacko played the ball inside for Irvine on the right and he found himself with enough room for a shot that the keeper held comfortably.
The next chance a couple of minutes after that saw a Saints freekick neatly flicked on by Jody for Jacko at the back post but he was ruled offside. Another good move saw Ando and Peaso combine to release Jacko before he was tackled as Saints enjoyed the majority of the possession. We were creating plenty of chances and winning several corners but couldn't capitalise on them. The best chance came from a Craig corner in the 13th minute but Rustybitz saw his header go over the bar. A minute later a long McManus header found Jacko through into the box only for the keeper to come and collect. The first real controversy came up after quarter of an hour with Ando booked for a soft foul on Corcoran - all the more annoying five minutes later when Maxwell went in high on Gary Irvine.
The Paisley side created their first real chance in the 25th minute with van Zanten given too much room to wander up the park. He played a one-two before sending a low shot just wide of Main's goal. They almost created another chance a couple of minutes after that as Dens Park Revisited came back to haunt McManus and he slipped on the ball - Rusty was there to cover for him again. The wind meant that the route one style was fairly effective with Peaso and Jacko both running their arses off and winning plenty of the ball but too often the final ball was easily dealt with by the height of the Paisley defence.
Half an hour gone and Goran tried his luck from about thirty yards out but the ball went well over the bar. The defender was a bit luckier at the other end of the park a minute later to header clear a Paisley freekick and then in the 33rd minute, Goran latched onto a ball and broke into the box only to be caught by Murray for the sort of penalty that the word stonewaller was created for. Of course the big issue was what to do with Sheerin on the bench but Liam Craig didn't hesitate to step up. Despite the neanderthal dancing from the St Mirren fans behind the goal (one of whom was waiving a Scottish Cup about which seemed to have been made of the leftover bacofoil from a Paisley crack den), Craig didn't hesitate and sent the keeper the wrong way with a Sheerinesque penalty to give us the lead.
St Mirren tried to hit back immediately with a good cross into Main's area which McManus miskicked but Main was there to gather. Saints forced another corner that was cleared ten minutes from time but when it broke down the park and found Main the goalie's long clearance found Peaso breaking through on goal only for his low drive to be blocked by the keeper. A minute later and a good Jacko run into the box found Peaso but his effort was blocked. The half finished off with another series of corners for Saints but the best effort was a McManus header down for Peaso but his shot was blocked. After Jacko was again fouled by Maxwell, Craig's freekick in found McManus whose header was held and then the last chance of the half saw a cross from the impressive Irvine held by the keeper beating Peaso to the ball.
As last week at Dens, the wind was against us and St Mirren, who had been booed off by their fans at half-time, weren't long in taking advantage of it. Within a minute of the restart Irvine had conceded a soft freekick that went out for a corner but the inswinger went straight out again. They came closer with their next effort a minute later as another inswinger almost beat Main but clipped the top of the crossbar before going behind. For their part, we had one corner that was easily cleared and then a slack passback by the St Mirren defence almost went into the goal but the keeper got back to recover. Ando had a good run five minutes into the second-half, inexplicably given plenty of room set up Craig for a cross but Peaso's header was held.
Saints were creating opportunities to get into the opposition box and plenty of set pieces, but we totally failed to take advantage of them with Mason and Haining mopping up most of the balls - the only consolation being that they were unable to create anything themselves. The best chance of the half fell for Saints in the 57th minute as we used our advantage in pace. A long goal kick from Main (whose kicking was good today especially against the wind) found Jacko in the centre circle and he turned his marker beautifully before releasing Savo on the right who went on a good run before cutting the ball back only for Peaso to just fail to make contact as the ball went across the six-yard box. St Mirren began to press with the long ball, with Main beating Mehmet to one on the hour mark, and then punching the ball clear from the edge of his box a minute later. The next chance was cleared by Craig and found Peaso going through the middle but with Jacko free on the right, Peaso turned selfish and took his time before shooting wide.
Then with twenty-five minutes remaining, there was more controversy. Saints were under pressure but Rustybitz and Ando cleared the ball finding the three strikers breaking on a three versus two break. Jacko had a good run and sent the ball over to the back post for the unmarked Peaso. He couldn't make room for the shot though and instead squared for Savo whose shot was apparently handled by Maxwell in the box. Unfortunately referee McDonald, who didn't have too bad a game, decided one penalty was enough for us and waived play on. Saints weren't out of it though and five minutes later Savo won a corner and from it the ball found Jacko rising up for a downward header that was cleared off the line for another corner - this time Ando got up for a header that was cleared.
After those chances, the fickle finger of fate struck again. St Mirren took Maxwell off and brought on Kean as they went for broke. And with 18 minutes remaining, the sub's first touch saw him play a long ball forward for Dorman to run onto and he outpaced Rusty and McManus and with Main coming out, Dorman played a lob over Main from the edge of the box and into the net to draw level and blow the game wide open. Suddenly it looked like St Mirren would make a comeback and they began to press more but at the same time the likes of Craig was controlling the midfield well - even managing a shot over the bar from a Morris cross.
Sheerin replaced Peaso with eleven minutes to go but the next chance fell to St Mirren as McManus picked up a booking for a foul on Dargo. Mehmet wasted it sending the ball over the bar though. Main came out of his box five minutes later to clear another attack but this time it was turned into a counter with Saints pressing and Sheerin crossing from the left for Morris but his header went wide. Sheerin released Jacko a minute later and he was brought down. James replaced Ando going up front as the freekick was taken but it was cleared and despite losing McManus, Dargo's finishing was poor as the ball went over the bar. Two minutes from the end a long crossfield ball from Goran was headed on by James for Jacko and he was brought down right on the edge of the box. Craig's freekick was poor and rebounded off the wall. Savo won a corner a minute later and this time we came close to snatching victory with James header spilled by the keeper but he made amends by smothering Jacko's follow-up. The closing stages saw us pressing and as the game went into injury-time a long ball from McManus found James but the skipper just failed to make contact.
The wind no doubt played an element and it was a hard game for Saints with Jacko and Savo knackered by the end of it. For a change there wasn't really a weak performance on the park either with the defence fairly comfortable throughout, Craig (my MoM) and Morris excellent in midfield along with Irvine while up front Peaso had his best game for a while. St Mirren can be beaten - certainly their defence struggled for pace but Saints will need to make sure we capitalise on the numerous set pieces and start winning more balls in the air.
At least we're still in the cup!!
Remember to vote on todays ref Dougie McDonald - send marks out of 10 to refvote@grange.demon.co.uk or just select a rating and press the button below ::