Temple Of Saints - Sexy Fitba's Back !

Scottish Premier League - 18/12/99

Killie 1 Saints 2 League Table Here

Team : Main,McQ,Bollan,Weir,Danny,Kane,Chief,Del,Nathan Jones,Pope
Subs : Robertson,Keyring,McCluskey,Georgio,Gerry

And a Merry Xmas from Saints to all the fans. Yes Killie are a poor side this season but on top of the joy of actually having a Saturday game to go to (despite snow all over Ayrshire) Saints managed to produce 45 minutes of sexy football as we tore Killie's defence apart. Balls played to feet, short passes, McQ tackles and Kane going forward - Yup this game had it all. Well it did for the first half - the second was the usual backs to the wall defending and panicking which usually costs us games. Except this time we got what we deserved and maybe, just maybe there is some light at the end of the tunnel.

With Dassa out and Gerry dropped, St Sandy brought Pope into the centre of midfield with Kane, whilst Del and Chief occupied the wing slots. The usual shuffling of subs saw no place for Miguel or flu-hit Messiah.

Early stages of the game saw Saints under a fair bit of pressure from the home side with Jumbo-Lugs Andy Smith going for the world record for most dives in a game deciding to drop any time Danny or Weir looked at him. Main was called into action early with a nice block and a few punches to keep the game goalless.

In midfield we were passing the ball about comfortably with short low passes and some nice moves to try and bring the wing men into the game. McQ and Chief managed a couple of runs up the wing but our only real shot was a Kane blaster which was blocked by an Ayrshire arse.

We didn't have long to wait though and on 16 minutes a Goalden Graeme cross from the left wing found Pope behind the static Killie defence. With the home fans screaming for offside, Pope calmly rounded a covering defender and sent the ball past Meldrum. The goal was met with some shock from the home fans - I mean us score a goal? But the expected ref decision to chalk it off didn't come and we were one up. The goal acted as a spur for the team and the rest of the half saw us tear them apart. Jones was through one-on-one with Meldrum but bottled the challenge to allow the keeper to clear.

It didn't matter much because 5 minutes later we went 2 up when Del beat a couple of Killie players on the left, cut back inside and played a lovely one-two with Pope in the middle before slotting the return ball home. With Saints in command, Pizzaface Paul Wright had a nice piece of overacting to get Weir booked, although compared with what was to come in the second half this was nothing. 32 minutes and Saints strung together about 15 passes (Serie A has nothing on this) before sending Chief through on the right, only to see his lob fail to beat the Killie keeper. Pure sexy football again !!

The second half was a bit of an anti-climax, especially as Saints took the foot off and seemed to lose all their shape and discipline and apart from occasional flashes of sexiness resorted to drab defensive crap. Unsurprisingly then it only took 5 minutes for Killie to pull one back. One-Leg Durrant left Blaster for dead on the right and crossed the ball over for Pizzaface to tap in off the underside of the bar. Still we had some pressure and in 55 minutes, Saints finally got a decision off ref George Clyde (henceforth to be known as PizzaBoy Clyde). Blaster took the free kick from the edge of the box only to see Meldrum palm it away and then block Del's shot from the rebound.

The game exploded 5 minutes later - some niggling between Blaster and Pizzaface saw Blaster get free on the left and clear the ball. In comes the Flying AcneMan with one of the most disgraceful challenges to leave Blaster down - Saints players started to square up with Weir and JumboLugs having a go. Unfortunately the ref showed his love for all things Pepperoni and settled for a yellow card. Holt followed Pizzaboy into the book a few minutes later despite having body-checked most of the Saints players during the game.

With the game becoming scrappy and Main only having to make one save really, Saints chances were limited. Nathan had a brilliant break down the left and cut the ball back to leave a sitter for Goalden Graeme but the keeper managed to save it.

Sandy put on Gerry for Nathan and then Keyring for the Pope as the game went on, although surprisingly the tiring Jones was left on the park as Saints came under some frantic pressure. However we had some chances with Keyring getting a couple of good breaks down the left and showing some form.

No more goals though although Clyde managed to find about 20 minutes of injury time in the 2nd half before blowing the final whistle. MoM for me was Pope - playing in an attacking role both his passing and positioning were excellent. Mentions too for Kane and Del who both looked to be on some sort of decent form and Main who managed a good 90 minutes.

We're maybe not in full blowing sexy-football mode yet but there are definitely signs that Mary Whitehouse should begin to panic !!!

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