Saints 2 Hearts 3 League Table Here
Team ::
Main,McQuillan,Davison,Dasovic,Kernaghan,Weir,Scott,Wright,Kane,Georgio,Preston
Subs :: Andersson,O'Neil,Grant
So the Great Curse Of Sky continues and at this rate it'll soon be a rival to the Great TFOD Curse as the main quoted reason in the media for Saints dropping much-needed points. In truth most of tonights defeat was of our own making - given the amount of possession / corners etc we had and the weakened Hearts team we were up against we should have had this game wrapped up. Still there is some good news - Wally was in the stand to see Callum put another half-million on his transfer value.
Georgio passed a late fitness test and Saints lined up almost unchanged. With Danny out, El Luggino elected to put 3 strikers on the bench, although it was apparent within the first 5 minutes that a forward line of Georgio, Wolf, Phizzy (putting in one of his worst performances of the season) and Kane were going to struggle against the lanky defence of the HIV-infested tinks from Auld Reekie - I mean there was about 3 foot difference between Wolf and Donkey Macpherson.
Still Saints started well and for the first 15-20 minutes dominated the game and looked set to break the Great Curse Of Sky. Georgio and Preston had good shots and Dasovic saw a header cleared off the line by Naysmith. With the midfield tackling the Jambos in their own half, the Saints defence had nothing else to do but mop up loose clearances and start another attack.
Unfortunately things went a bit screwy when David Weir broke down the right (with Callum caught up the park). Despite Kernaghans efforts, he got a low cross across the box which was missed by the Saints defence and met by Scumdee-reject Hamilton to make it 1-0. The game started to become more even and harder with Wolf lucky to escape a red card when he stamped on Jim Hamilton after the tink had impeded him. Kernaghan wasn't so fortunate and picked up a yellow for clashing with the diving Adam.
It got worse before half-time when a scramble in the Saints penalty area ended up with Naysmith sending a rocket past the helpless Main. Saints discipline seemed to desert them and they struggled to string more than one or 2 passes together. Half-time came and saw many quotes of 'Wish I'd taped Brookside' being heard in the West Stand.
Still things did get better. With the second-half only 3 minutes gone Saints pulled one back when Davison made a run from his own half, played a quick one-two with Georgio and sent a low shot past Rousset the Pousset (as he was christened). Some people put it down to his talent, personally I reckon it had more to do with the announcer playing the Skids as the teams reappeared. Either way it put Saints back into the game, a massive grin on Geoff Browns face and no emotion whatsoever from Wally (maybe he realised how much he needs to cough up - 4 million + Gazza was one Saints fans opinion).
Saints were back on the attack now and when Wolf had a break down the left just after the hour, up came Donkey to send him flying in the box. Georgio took the penalty and converted with ease. Cue for massive cheers and the faint hope that the Coca-Cola Cup tie from a couple of years ago was about to be repeated.
Unfortunately it went downhill 7 minutes later when Hamilton broke down the left, got to the bye-line and shot through Mains legs. Bastard. Saints tried to get back with the subs coming on for Preston, Dasovic and Wolf (though how Phizzy managed to stay on amazed me), but despite efforts from Georgio, Kane and O'Neil along with plenty of corners (which amounted to nothing as usual), there was no further comeback. Roddy was his usual slow self although Andersson had some nice touches and Del is a far better player than Wolf.
MoM for me was Wolf for stamping on Hamilton although mentions for Weir, Davison and Georgio. As for the Jambos they're still jammy bastards but its nice to see they cant get the support to come out either with the total away support amounting to less than the North Stand. Please can we have our usual seats back next time Mr Brown ?
As for Saints, we need to work big-time on set pieces and Luggy needs to seriously consider playing a target man from the start - we're up against too many tall defences to constantly end up chasing the game.
Remember to vote on todays ref Mike McCurry (Wegieland) - send marks out of 10 to refvote@grange.demon.co.uk