Temple Of Saints - Divers

Scottish Premier League - 05/02/2000

Sheepy Divers 2 Saints 1 League Table Here

Team : Main,Frail,Bollan,Weir,Danny,Kane,Chief,Del,Miguel Jones,Pope
Subs : Dolph,Gerry,Nathan,Lauchlan,Dods

Should have expected it really - after all the papers were raving about Zero all week so of course he would be the star. Well him, Avril Sternum and Robbie the Arab reject were all outstanding today - that is if your on the Sydney Olympics Diving Jury. I've never seen so much cheating, diving and blatant fouls from a side in a long time as Aberdeen showed today. They can play good football when they want but if that's their attitude I hope they go down.

With a packed Sheepville (you could tell it was cheap entry day), Saints left Nathan on the bench and fielded Miguel up front to partner Goalden Graeme. In at right-back for his debut was ex-Coagie, Jambo and man who has Seen the Light, Steven Frail (squad no 33 stats fans).

The opening exchanges saw Saints catch Sternum and Co. offside several times as the game was played at a hectic pace. Frail made his mark early with a good foul whilst Main was slow on a couple of occasions to cover through balls.

Eight minutes had passed before we saw a glimpse of the "talents" of zero. Losing out in a 50-50 high ball with Blaster, the wee shite proceeded to perform the best dying swan act since Nuryev popped his ballet shoes. With the ref waving play on it was 5 minutes before the wee git got off his arse. Perhaps if some action (even a warning) had been taken by Mr. Clyde then we would have avoided some of the antics that were to follow.

In the game itself Saints were threatening through some good build-up play from Pope and our first real chance saw Jones send the ball across the goal after 12 minutes. Two minutes later though and we went in front when a square pass from Miguel was run onto by Del through a wide open defence to slot the ball past Bandy. With the Sheep obviously feeling the pressure Sternum decided to go for the High Dive award - in the box of course. No penalty and play went on.

It was a different matter after 20 minutes though when Danny slipped in the box. He stupidly handled the ball to protect it and this time there was no doubt. Cue for Sternum to distract Main with his new flowing locks hairstyle and score the equaliser from the spot. After that Saints came under some pressure although the game was fairly even. We saw Winters dive (so badly that not even the Sheep Sweetie Paper Rustlers complained) and Zero blast the ball over the bar. At this point Saints were doing the same as last week - defending deeply and standing off the ball.

Still we had some attacks and with 10 minutes to go before half-time, Blaster sent a long ball forward. It found Jones in the box and his downward header went to Pope who sent a diving header towards goal. With Bandy beaten it was the Pittodrie woodwork that denied Saints a cracker. Clyde decided enough was enough on the stroke of half-time and Winters was booked for his second dive of the match.

Second-half started with the large Saints support wanting Nathan on. To be frank Jones was crap for most of the game with little pace and no heading ability to cause the Sheep any problems. Unfortunately it was the Dons who were the hungrier of the two sides and some poor clearance work from Saints (i.e. spending far too long on the ball) led to Winters breaking through and putting the ball past Main. Saints weren't out of it though and Miguel came close just afterwards with a 1-on-1 chance with Bandy. A good save from the keeper and as happened so often there was no support from the midfield or strikers to follow up and keep the pressure on.

The hour mark saw Sternum miss a sitter and Nathan finally come on for Jones. The difference was immediate with Saints turning up the pace of the game. Ten minutes later though and Sandy puts on Gerry for Miguel - strange to say the least given that removing a defender might have made more of a difference. Of course with 20 minutes to go and the Sheep in the lead Bandy started his party piece (the take 10 minutes for a goal kick routine we all enjoy) and Zero decided to block free kicks (much to the delight of Del who got to smash the ball against the wee shite in frustration).

The Sheep were still hitting us on the break and Main pulled off a couple of good saves, although to be honest both Blaster and Weir were letting us down badly in defence by spending too long on the ball or with poor passing. Nathan picked up the second yellow of the game for doing nothing (whilst the Sheep escaped with a multitude of handballs). Bandy was forced into a good save from Nathan with 10 minutes to go and Lauchlan replaced Chief. And the Lauchlan / Frail combination on the right finally seemed to give Saints some bite as both players began to get stuck in physically to their opponents - maybe we're missing a psycho in the team. The last 10 minutes saw Saints win a series of corners to no avail whilst Blaster picked up a booking for looking at Zero (as in Zero Sportsmanship) the wrong way. Suffice to say his reaction to the ref at the final whistle summed up his opinion nicely.

MoM for me was Del although the whole team were fairly average. We deserved the draw but badly need to return to the attacking football that saw us do so well last year. Far, far too often we're defending deeply and trying to soak up pressure and when we do break forward it's in insufficient numbers. Personally I'd give Lauchlan a run in the team and try playing Miguel and Nathan up front WITH ANOTHER STRIKER. As for Frail he had a quiet start to the game but for a player who only met his team-mates last night suffice to say McQ won't feature again.

As for that other mob - I hope they get relegated along with all their cheating ways.

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