Saints 1 Fulham 1
Team :
Main,McQ,Bollan,Weir,Dods,Dasovic,Kane,Griffin,McBride, Legend,Miguel
Subs : Ferguson,Lauchlan,Chief,McMahon,Jemson,Nathan
I'm not sure how to report on this one. On the one hand it was good to finally see a game at the Spiritual Home of Light, almost enough to make you keen for the season to start. And there was the chance to see the new Great Striking Hope. Having said that though the game was only a pre-searon friendly and that definitely showed through in the attitude of the players. But time is running out if we're to be ready for the start of the season and despite what St. Sandy will no doubt say, today I saw far too many passes go astray, players out of position and half-hearted attempts at trying to win a game that was there for the taking. And these guys want improved contracts?
St. Sandy said that today's side would reflect next weeks line up for the SPL opener. All I can say is that the notion of playing Danny on the right wing is one that will give us no advantage whatsoever. Danny is a defender or central midfielder and there is no point in trying to make him into a winger. The new G.S.H. started on the bench.
Early stages were dominated by Fulham who are a strong physical side and very soon showed that they weren't going to be scared to mix it with God's Chosen Ones. Despite the pressure though they had little in the way of real chances on goal although they got more than their fair share of corners and managed to show up some of the lacklustre defending (step forward Cap'n Jim and McQ).
In midfield the game was more even with Kane and Pope both looking good. McBride especially showed some good awareness and control and is looking like a much improved player on the Celtic reject we inherited. Kane managed to go forward a bit but as I said the weakness on the right combined with some woeful passing from Dasovic and a general unwillingness to push forward meant that too often Legend and Eusebio had to struggle on their own. Still Miguel and Legend both had half-chances early on but to be fair the Fulham defence looked very solid.
Saints best chance of the half came after some good work by Eusebio and Danny on the right. Eusebio broke into the middle and sent a fast cross into the box. Up comes Forrest Gump to take his time and unleash a hard shot which the Fulham keeper did well to push over the bar.
Half-time saw Legend replaced by Jemmo. A tall 6ft striker it has to be said he doesn't look better or even as good as Roddy. Carrying far too much weight and with a tendency to drop like the proverbial sack of spuds, he struggled to cope with the speed of the game. No heading ability that I could see and although he forced the Fulham keeper into one good save before the end (after making a good break down the right) don't expect him to join the Disciples.
For the rest of the team, Saints struggled to push forward and with Fulham looking tired the game started to get bogged down a bit. That was until 58 minutes and a Pope run up the left (for about the first time in the game). Showing good close control he got to the edge of the opposition box and instead of squaring to one of the forwards, let rip with a cracking curving shot into the top-right corner of the net - one of the best goals I've seen for a while.
The ineffective Griffin was replaced by the Karaoke King who managed to get injured within a couple of minutes. I'm sorry but it doesn't look like Gerry has improved at all over the close season and an early exit looks on the cards.
Saints held the lead until about 10 minutes from time. Failure by Dasovic and McBride to keep possession allowed Fulham to break through and after a couple of attempts, Hughes sent a cracking low drive past Main.
Overall it was an entertaining game for a pre-season match but somehow I get the feeling that several of the so-called big names out there need one big kick up the arse ahead of next Saturday. MoM for me was Pope who got a cracking goal and along with Miguel looked to be one of the few talented players on show. Mention too for Forrest Gump who kept the Ulrika-beater in his back pocket for the 90 minutes.
One other thing - we *STILL* need a striker.