Arab
Thugs Nuffink Glorious Tayside Champions 2 League
Table Here
Arab
Thugs Nuffink Glorious Tayside Champions 2 League
Table Here
Team :: Main,McQuillan,Il
Biscotti,O'Neil,Weir,Kernaghan,McMahon,O'Halloran,Roddy,Georgio,Jenko
Subs :: McCluskey,McAnespie,Andersson
Well in an accurate piece of pre-match reporting the Courier referred to Saints 'tattooed hitman' Georgio - all I can say is that a hitman was what Saints badly needed today in what was one of the most indisciplined team performances of the season. For a local derby this had it all - players shoving one another, swearing, slapping - and that was just Il Biscotti and Cap'n Jim with the latter putting in his worst performance this season. With Kane and Dasovic joining the rest of Saints first-choice midfield in the treatment room Jenko finally made a starting line-up and Chief got another first team start after the debacle of his performance against the Pars a fortnight ago.
Straight from the start Saints proved that their higher league position than Gerbils over-paid Vikings is no fluke as they dominated the early stages forcing several corners. It didn't take long to see what sort of friendly atmosphere this match would have when Pedersen (remember the cheating shite that got Jenko sent off last time?) was booked in the first 5 minutes for use of the elbow on Il Biscotti. In fact the referee would have been justified in taking action against several players as the match threatened to turn into the Battle of Tannadice.
The football from Saints was good with Del and Jenko having chances in the early stages but it was Chief who had the best shot when he hit a 25-yard drive from an O'Neil rebound which forced the Dutch Dick Dykstra into a one-handed save for the corner. Even big Father Dougal got into the act when he sent a Charnley-like effort from just inside the Arabs half - which of course had the predictable effect. He had a second chance with a near-post header a bit later but when was the last time you saw Saints score from the near post.
In defence Saints were holding themselves well in the heavy conditions with McQ and Il Biscotti containing Winters and Shell Petrolstation. The only real problem seemed to be an inability to play the ball into attack along the ground or use the wingers with both Jenko and McMahon suffering from a lack of support.
Just on the half-hour the cheating Scumdee were reduced to 10 men when Pedersen was red-carded for a second bookable offence after elbowing either Jenko or Del (it was hard to see), and it looked like a riot was about to start as Del and Jenko started to play handbags with the Arab gits.
Unfortunately the rest of the first half saw the Arabs push forward and try to sneak a goal and in fact they had the best 2 chances - first a Gary 'I played for TFOD so why cant I cheat' McSwegan drive from the right went across the goal only to rebound of Mains post. Then as the half drew to a close Main pulled off an excellent stop from a Petrolstation shot.
Saints play was deteriorating as the half went on but one of the worst sights was after Weir was slow in beating Winters to a long ball. Despite the shot being cleared for a corner Il Biscotti and Weir looked set to slug it out whilst play was going on - really nasty scenes given that they seem to get on OK at other times. Combined with a second-half of Jenko and Biscotti, Weir and Kernaghan and ONeil and Biscotti trading arguments and it starts to look as though the pressure is getting to the boys. Having said that Luggy should definitely fine the players involved - after what happened to Charnley at the 7-2 game the last thing we need is a Saints player getting red-carded for being an arse (Legend excepted).
Anyway, the second half started as badly for Saints with the Arabs getting a series of corners and the continuing inability of the Saints defence to clear their lines - with only the referee spotting a foul in the box preventing the Arabs from taking the lead.
With Saints making little impression up front it was left to Taffy on the left wing to suffer the slaggings of the Saints support in the new stand although IMHO 90% of this was more than justified. Just as we started to appeal to El Luggino to replace the useless English git, he picked up a Georgio flick and ran into the box to send an angled shot past the Dutch Dyckhed and in off his left-hand post. Cue for massive celebrations from the Saints fans and an amazing set of Eubank-style 'stuff youse' posturings from Jenko.
Of course 5 minutes later he was missing simple passes as the Arabs threw everything at us. This was the cue for the nasty tackling to start and McQ was taken off with a head injury to be replaced by McCluskey. On the other side Il Biscotti was hacked by Dolan earning the Arab fatboy a yellow card and an early subbing.
Saints had some more chances notably to ONeil and McMahon before a break in the last minute saw Legend and Shagger break up the park. The Legend shot past Dutch Dyk only to be beaten by the woodwork by Shagger O'Boyle was there to blast home the rebound. One booking for the boys - Father Dougal for something vague in the first half. Overall a good performance given the injuries the squad is carrying and the dodgy refereeing. MoM for me was O'Halloran - he kept on getting stuck in unlike a certain pair of lazy forwards I can think of (though they scored the goals so I shouldnt complain).
As for the Arabs - expect the Gerbil to be sacked this summer and the traditional West Coast meedja Luggy to take over stories. Again.
Remember to vote on todays ref Kevin Bissett (Inverness) - send marks out of 10 to refvote@grange.demon.co.uk