Scottish Premier League - 15/08/99
Scottish Premier League - 15/08/99 Saints 2 Killie 0 League Table Here
Team :
Main,McQ,Blaster,Weir,Dods,Dazza,Kane,Del,Keyring,Gerry,Nathan
Subs : Dolph,Legend,Miguel,Danny,Pope
They say bad things happen in threes. Well this morning started with forgetting the season tickets so I had to pay to get into the ground, forgetting the camera so I could finish of the Vaasa films then seeing St. Sandys team selection - yes he picked the Ginger Bomber but for some reason Gerry kept his place. Well I'm still waiting on the third bad thing cos Gerry had a good game.
That's worth repeating - Gerry had a good game.
In fact if it hadn't been for a crap referee and linesmen he would have had a couple of goals as well. Yup goals as in the sort of thing a striker scores !!!!
But I'm getting ahead of myself. A fairly decent crowd at McD resplendent in various Vaasa garments and enjoying the sunshine gave the team a warm welcome back to league business. St. Sandy relegated Miguel to the bench where he joined the recovered Pope and the Legend whilst the Ginger Bomber was the only change to the starting line-up.
From the off the Killie 3-5-2 formation looked suspect with the left centre-back DanDildo (a Frenchman) looking like the sort of Bosman reject that Judas would have on trial for a month. Unfortunately for Saints though, none of the forwards (and Del was especially guilty in this) were willing to exploit the gaps meaning for the most part we were happy to punt the high ball up the park.
In defence Saints looked solid enough with the only weak link being the form of Main in goal. Time and time again he failed to catch simple cross balls which meant that when Killie got 3 corners in succession there were a lot of nervous people in the East Stand. Still at least the ref was wise to the diving and cheating antics of Froggy Veraille which helped to ease the pressure.
15 minutes gone saw the first real worry when Nathan landed awkwardly on his ankle. He managed to run off the injury but came in for extra special attention from the Killie defenders from then on.
Saints attacks were for a lot of the time caught offside and when we did get a chance on goal the finishing was pretty poor - Kane had a long range effort, Dods header went wide and Del managed to put the ball over the bar from 4 yards out (must have been taking lessons from Eusebio). We did get the ball in the net when a through ball found Gerry but the arse linesman at the East Stand side decided to believe Kevin McGownes offside claim - I mean trusting a haircut like that? Worse came after Gerry got booked for his first tackle of the game. McGowne decided to chop down Del at the corner flag. By a miracle the ref overruled the linesman (who was busy signalling for a foul against Saints) and gave us the free kick. Take any action against the Killie player? Of course not.
Still at least we weren't behind at half-time although some of us were getting worried about the lack of penetration up front. Gerry was playing well but the ball still wasn't in the net.
We didn't have long to wait in the second half though and Saints opener was well worth it. A free-kick 20 yards out and to the right of the Killie goal. Del dummies and Blaster lives up to his name with an absolute belter of a rocket into the net.
6 minutes later and Saints doubled their lead. Gerry fed the ball through to Nathan on the edge of the box. The Bomber waited until the Killie defender caught him then turned him beautifully before slipping the ball under Doldrums in goal.
After that we had a third chalked off for offside after a knockback across goal saw the Karaoke King get a diving header into the net. That was to be his last contribution as he left the field to genuine applause and was replaced by Eusebio in 65 minutes. Even then we had plenty of chances before the end with Miguel missing a sitter of a header and Kane and Keyring both going close. And I must say that at times the fast play of Saints on the attack (with Nathan looking in excellent form) was a joy to behold and totally outclassed the Killie defence. Still we had some worries at the back - Main failed to hold a couple of shots and had to be quick to smother them whilst a free kick (which saw Eusebio booked) went close before Killie hit the bar in injury time when Paul 'Pizza Face' Wright had a chance. Oh yeah and our favourite Killie striker does not have much of a sense of humour regarding his complexion.
Overall it was a cracking second-half performance with Nathan my MoM. We still have some weak links - Main looked dodgy and Kane looked tired from the midweek exertions (not as tired as a certain F. Dougal though). And Killie don't look anything like the side that we fought last season.
But maybe, just maybe, St. Sandy has seen the light and twigged that guys like Nathan and Keyring are the ones to help us play a fast attacking game. I mean when the Saints fans feel sorry for Gerry for not scoring it must be a good sign.
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | Points |
| Dundee Utd | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 7 |
| Celtic | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 6 |
| Rangers | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 6 |
| Hibs | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 5 |
| Hearts | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 4 |
| Kilmarnock | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Dundee | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 3 |
| Saints | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 3 |
| Motherwell | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| Aberdeen | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
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