Scottish Premier League - 19/09/98
Scottish Premier League - 19/09/98 Saints 2 Aberdeen 0 League
Table Here
Team ::
Main,McCluskey,Bollan,Dods,Kernaghan,Dasovic,O'Neil,McMahon,
Kane,Georgio,Lowndes
Subs :: Preston,Legend,Whiteford,Griffin,Ferguson
Well at least last weeks performance against the Pars looks more & more like a blip as Saints got back into attacking form with a fine and well-deserved win over the Sheep. And after seeing Eoin 'great prospect' Jess smirking on Friday Sportscene last night it was a beautiful sight. With McQ still injured St. Sandy brought Stuart McCluskey into the right-back slot with Danny relegated to the subs bench. With the return of Kane from suspension Phizzy was dropped from the side.
Right from the off Saints were in control with Sir Nathan of Lowndes and Georgio causing the Dons defence all sorts of problems. Lowndes especially seemed to be chasing and harrying for every ball. The early stages saw shots from Nathan, Dasovic, Del and Georgio all trouble the Sheep before Sir Nathan scored in 18 minutes. He picked up a through ball through the middle and beat the defence to send a low drive past the floundering OAP in the away goal. This guy is going to be a star.
With everyone expecting a Dons onslaught to take place all that Miller did was remove Kiriakov (who was turning into a thug every time he got near the ball) and bring on ex-Saint, ex-fashion model and all round prick Inglis. Such wonderful attacking tactics saw Saints push forward with Inglis showing his Dons influence by hacking Georgio within about 10 seconds of coming on.
The midfield was well in control and superstars Hignett and Jess were well-marshalled by Kane and Dasovic (who looks better every game). Even a nasty foot injury to our Nick couldn't stop him getting stuck in. Praise too for McMahon and Del on the wings who kept the pressure on the Sheep and didnt let them rest once. Del managed to pick up a yellow card for a rash challenge on Billy Dodds but it has to be said that given the challenges that Inglis, Smith and Whyte were putting in he was hard done by.
In defence McCluskey was a star at right back looking much more confident than Danny did last week whilst Bollan (despite still looking far too slow), Dods and Father Dougal all turned in their usual star performances. As for Main, he only had one punch to make and very little else to do.
The second half opened with Danny replacing Dasovic and the Sheep attempting to make a game of it. Luckily this didn't last too long as Saints fought back with Lowndes and Georgio seeing efforts go wide. Saints finally wrapped up the points just after the hour mark. Sir Nathan had a run through on goal only to see his shot blocked on the edge of the box by the OAP. The ball broke free to Gerry McMahon who sent a long lob over from the touchline, past the retreating Dons defence and into the net. Sheer bloody poetry.
Saints put on Il Biscotti for Del and Legend for Georgio as they chased more goals. The Dons had a couple of attacks towards the end but the Saints defence looked stronger than ever. The icing on the cake came when Inglis got booked for fouling Sir Nathan as he ran down on goal. 5 yards further forward and it would have been red - mores the pity.
Overall a very convincing performance. Del and Kane looked to be well back on form and the weakest part of the team seemed to be Georgio who needs to get back amongst the goals soon. As for Gerry and Sir Nathan - two major cult heroes and joint men of the match.
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | Points |
| Rangers | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 4 | 10 |
| Kilmarnock | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 9 |
| Motherwell | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 9 |
| Celtic | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 6 | 8 |
| Aberdeen | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 8 | 8 |
| Saints | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 |
| Hearts | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 7 |
| Dunfermline | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 6 |
| Dundee | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 5 |
| Dundee Utd | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 3 |
Remember to vote on todays ref - Jim McCluskey (Stewarton) send marks out of 10 to refvote@grange.demon.co.uk