Saints 3 Stranraer Hoodoo 0
Team ::
Dolph,McQuillan,Bollan,Dods,Griffin,Dasovic,McMahon,O'Neil,
Connolly,Georgio,O'Halloran
Subs :: Preston,Whiteford,Keyring
Another week, another format for the teams. This time Saints have their names and squad numbers whilst Stranraer were 1-11. This time there is only 3 subs allowed. Still with me?
The game was mostly one-sided although it took the boys over an hour to break down a well-organised Stranraer defence. The opening minutes saw McMahon and O'Neil make some good runs with the former showing some fantastic skills to beat several defenders and break into the box only for a curling shot to go just wide. Chief came close as well on a couple of occassions as he took over from Paul Kane in the role of the hard tackling midfielder. But the worst of the misses were reserved for the star striker as Georgio missed 3 sitters, 2 in the first-half which led to IMHO some totally uncalled for booing from the East Stand whingers (at least 2 of whom were sitting next to me and Ive never seen at an away match).
The overall team performance was well-disciplined. In defence Dolph had a bit of a shaky start missing some cross balls but recovered to make a couple of good saves in the second-half when the match was still goalless. Dods and Danny are showing signs of developing a good understanding with one another whilst McQ was his usual rock at the back. Bollan came in at left-bakc and whilst he doesnt tackle as much or push forward like Il Biscotti his passing from defence was very accurate and I dont think anyone got past him all day.
Midfield is still an area that needs work. Apart from the aforementioned Chief, Dazza had a good game although he tends to be caught napping and plays too defensively for my liking. On the wings McMahon showed a lot more skill than last week and looks a much better bet than Taffy if he can only score some goals. However Delboy is starting to look like a weaker link. He still doesn't look too fit and seemed to be wandering aimlessly for the first hour. Up front Georgio was a greedy git whilst Paddy Connolly looks like a #300,000 striker at last. And as was pointed out the last time we had a striker called Connolly we ended up in Europe !!!!!
The first of the goals came after 67 minutes when Saints won a free kick on the edge of the Stranraer box. Quickly taken, the ball found Chief behind the defence and he blasted the ball home from a narrow angle. The second came 10 minutes later when Paddy Connolly picked up a loose ball across the area whilst the 3rd was similar as Georgio finally got on the scoresheet. There was still time for John McQuillan to hit a narrow angled shot which rebounded of the crossbar.
To be honest the score should have been 6 or 7 if Saints had taken all their chances and the lack of clinical finishing could be more of a problem against League opposition.
Remember to vote on todays ref - George Simpson (Aberdeen) send marks out of 10 to refvote@grange.demon.co.uk