Saints
3 Stirling 1 Saints
3 Stirling 1
Team :: Main,McQuillan,Il
Biscotti,Dasovic,Weir,Kernaghan,Tosh,Wright,Kane,Georgio,Jenko
Subs :: McCluskey,O'Neil,O'Halloran
Obviously it's now Saints year to win the cup after another shambolic home win over lower division opposition who if we'd been anything like on form would have been disposed of within 30 minutes.
With the departure of Callum and injuries affecting Roddy and Phizzy it was a much-changed team that took the part with El Luggino giving Tosh a chance to win a regular first-team slot and putting Tommy Wright out on the right wing. With international superstar Georgio in the middle and Taffy on the left wing this should have been a walkover - even if Stirling had the mythical figure of one Gavin Price in their line-up.
Unfortunately as was the case last week too many players were off form or couldnt seem to be bothered to exert themselves too much. With a steady rainfall on an already heavy pitch and some fairly strong swirling winds it seemed like the game would become a bit of a lottery and on more than one occassion in the opening exchanges thoughts of St$#@##$r and Broadwood came to mind.
Saints had the better chances with Georgio especially guilty of missing a sitter. On the wings Wright was struggling after an early challenge for which we didn't get the foul but referee Kenny Clark booked Stirlings Neil Bennett. At the other end the Saints defence were only occassionally put under any sort of pressure with Main more than capable of dealing with the shots. The midfield however, was a different matter with Tosh and Kane both seemingly incapable of passing the ball along the ground. With Jenko out on the left touchline doing sod all it was left to Dasovic to deal with most of the ball-winning and playmaking duties.
Still we did have some luck when Clark proved that it's not only John Rowbotham who cant tell when a halfs ended as he played about 5 minutes injury time in the first half. This was enough for Jenko to take the ball down the left then cut in to Il Biscotti who decided to show the world his godlike skills in dribbling the ball into the Stirling penalty area before chipping over their defence for Dasovic to confidently head home.
All thoughts of a Saints steamroller wiping the floor with the Beanos in the second-half were quickly dismissed as more of the same inept play came from the home side and in time-honoured tradition we let the other side back into the game and they came close with a couple of shots.
Saints did have chances to sew things up with Georgio, McQuilland and Tosh all managing to screw up things with only the keeper to beat. For Tosh in particular it seemed to knock his confidence although when presented with another opportunity in the last 15 minutes he got Saints a penalty (even though it looked soft it was a definite foul). Up stepped Georgio to shoot home and make it 2-0. Of course by this time we were crying out for subs to come on and freshen up the team with several players looking very tired. Eventually El Luggino relented and sent on Del and Chief for Wolf and the ineffective Tosh (who had probably his worst match of the season). Both the subs looked lively enough and O'Halloran in particular looks to be a better bet ahead of Tosh in future matches.
Still there was more drama to come and Tommy Tait scored a beauty of a 25-yard volley with 3 minutes left to start the panics and memories of other dodgy home draws in cup-ties in years gone by. Just as we were all waiting for the inevitable equaliser though Chief broke down the right and sent a low cross across the goal which the unlucky Todd Lumsden put into the net to make it 3-1.
Not a classic by any means and not as convincing as the scoreline would suggest. Too many players are off form and why Luggy went with a defensive 4-5-1 formation against Stirling I don't know. We still need a striker to partner Georgio up front and we badly missed Phizzy in midfield for the attacking options he gives.
There were 2 other bookings - Father Dougal for a soft challenge and Price of Stirling for persistent fouling (and based on his performance today we're well shot of him). MoM for me was Dasovic - another excellent performance in midfield.
Still, only 2 matches to the final !!!!! .
Remember to vote on todays ref Kenny Clark (Paisley) - send marks out of 10 to refvote@grange.demon.co.uk