Saints 0 Kilmarnock 0 League Table Here
Team :: Dolph,McQuillan,Il
Biscotti,Dods,Griffin,Dasovic,McMahon,O'Neil, Connolly,Georgio,O'Halloran
Subs :: Main,Bollan,Whiteford,McAnespie,Kane
Well its nice to see the media turning out in force for what was always going to be a closely-fought game between two of the top teams from last season. Nice to see them turn out in such numbers to look at the depth of youth talent on display from two of Scotlands better managers. Well it would have been except of course we all know that the only reason they bothered their fat Wegie-based buttocks was because Super Sally had deigned to leave the sheltered confines of the Death Star to see what the real world was like. As it was he was on the bench for most of the game and only appeared for the last 5 minutes to absolutely no effect whatsoever.
In a very close game where both sets of defences were on top and with the help of a howling gale inside McD, the chances were few and far between although to be honest the two best chances both fell to Killie where they contrived to miss open goals (the second from Kebab Durrant was almost as classy as Georgio last week). Saints had their chances as well with Georgio and Connolly both having good attempts saved and Danny Griffin coming in with a powerful header in the second-half. Save of the match though came from Dolph with a one-handed stop from a 20-yard Paul 'Cheat' Wright shot. Most of the action in the game centred on the midfield and this was where the more controversial points arose.
Referee Gary Mitchell showed just how crap he was early when he only warned Killie's Ally Mitchell for a two-footed assault on John McQuillan. Of course the traditional level of Scottish refereeing consistency was maintained when Del was yellow-carded for a similar offence midway through the first-half. Then Killie escaped again when Martin Baker got off with just a yellow for an off-the-ball hack on Del which had the ref been following the standards set 2 weeks ago should have been an automatic red card.
Add to that a couple of dodgy handball decisions which could have been penalties (one for each side) and the letting off for Paul Wright in the second half for retaliation after he and Darren Dods clashed and you've got an even worse refereeing performance than last week.
Apart from these incidents, which luckily didn't affect the outcome of the match, the game was fairly entertaining. Saints defence looked OK with Danny improving as the match went on and Dods looking like an absolute steal. Only the mighty Il Biscotti gave any concern as he seemed to suffer from a lack of pace. Midfield again was worrying. For all the running that Dasovic and Del did they seemed to struggle to find their man once they got the ball. On the wing McMahon wasn't too bad but it has to be said that he's no better than Jenko was. Chief O'Halloran is looking much improved though and despite his replacement by Kane later on he deserves to keep a starting place if only because he at least looks hungry.
Up front Georgio ran his arse off but still has a tendency to do too much which usually ends up with him surrounded by 3 or 4 opposition players and losing possession. Connolly again did a lot of good work and seems to be developing an understanding with Georgio at last. He was replaced near the end by Keyring who despite looking faster and more capable is still having problems adapting to the pace.
Still given the chances that Killie blew and the shite refereeing a draw was probably a fair result.
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | Points |
| Kilmarnock | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| Celtic | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 3 |
| Aberdeen | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Hearts | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Rangers | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Motherwell | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Dunfermline | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 3 |
| Saints | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Dundee Utd | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Dundee | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
Remember to vote on todays ref Garry Mitchell (Arbroath) - send marks out of 10 to refvote@grange.demon.co.uk