Temple Of Saints -

Scottish Premier League - 08/05/99

Euro Saints 1 Homebound Scumdee 0 League Table Here

Team :: Jesus,McQ,Blaster,Danny,McCluskey,Dassa,Kano, Del,Chief,Nathan,Miguel
Subs :: Paddy Thingy,Parker,Ferguson, Whiteford, Keyring

So this was the Big One. The game to decide whether or not Saints would beat the 28 year old hoodoo and see the Boys make it into the UEFA Cup. The match we'd all been working towards since the Scottish Cup semi. The one to stuff the 'move to a bigger club' down Judas' face. Christ even Chairman Geoff cut the admission prices to a fiver in an effort to entice the Perth populace into McD.

And do you know what? It worked. Heading into the car park at 11.30 a full hour before kick-off this morning and the place was literally heaving with supporters of Gods Chosen Ones. With kick-off a full 45 minutes away the ground was almost full and the latecomers were being turned away. It was nothing more than the players deserved and if we'd lost it would have been daylight robbery.

But we didn't. I'm not even going to bother with the usual in-depth match report. Saints turned out with the same side that narrowly lost out on the 3 points at Rugby Park last Saturday but this time the Gods were with us. First half narrowly went to Scumdee with Anderson taking the piss out of McQ. However he wasn't supported in the middle and the best chance fell to Keyring (on for an injured Chief after 10 minutes), and Miguel who saw a clearance off the line.

Second-half saw the home side showing the results of the proverbial kick up the arse as they took the game to Dundee. Of course we had the usual dodgy refereeing decisions and close shaves with Jesus making a world-class save from Grady on the hour mark. Still the boys pressured the Scumdee defence which looked more and more shaky as the game went on. 70 minutes and a break down the right sees Del put a cross into the box. For a change a Saints player was in the penalty area and Kano (for it was he) headed the ball past Douglas. With the crowd (if not the players) knowing the Ibrox score was still 1-1 it meant that Saints were on course for Europe.

Of course the remainder of the match had its moments with Miguel missing a tap-in from a Paddy Thingy cross, and a couple of close shots from Scumdee. But from the moment we took the lead there was little doubt in the capacity crowds mind that Saints were back in Europe. So the final whistle came and the celebrations began with the entire playing staff (U-21 champions included) on the park to receive the cheers of the fans. It was like the 1st Division title party all over again.

MoM for me? Danny by a mile - he won every ball in defence and did more than his fair share of pushing forward. Mentions too for Dasovic and Miguel who both ran their arse off. But to be honest there were no real stars today - if anything the match showed that Saints are a team more than anything else.

Banner of the day was 'Europe in a tractor, we're going to Europe in a tractor!!!'

.....and Christ, but we are definitely on our way!!!!!

Right where's the passport.

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