UEFA Cup 1st Round 1st Leg
UEFA Cup 1st Round 1st LegTax-Dodgers 3 Saints 0
Team :
Main,McQ,Bollan,Weir,Danny,Keyring,Kane,O'Neil,Chief,Miguel Messiah
Subs :
Ferguson,McBride,Georgio,McCluskey,Nathan,Roddy,Lauchlan
Well no matter what the final score was, I and the 1000+ other Saintees in the stadium (which is slightly better than Ochilview) thought we deserved more from the game, especially after keeping the scores blank until the 69th minute. But then when your team has the local government pumping 55 million francs a year into the club you can afford the sort of player that can turn a game - like one bleach-haired overrated Italian poof.
As
for Vaasa, you'll find the real story of the trip elsewhere and I'll
concentrate on the match here - although with this report being written in
the early hours of the Sunday morning, some of the details may be a bit
hazy. And for those of you who weren't there, its going to be practically
impossible to describe either the surroundings or the atmosphere amongst
the Saints support. Both were out of this world. After taking the
escalator to the seats (TFOEland eat yer heart out) and marvelling at the
sheer grandeur of the stadium, it was time to start the singing and
despite most of us in dodgy voice form due to the alcohol and the non-stop
singing of the previous 2 days, the chants of "Tax-Dodging Bastards"
and "In Yer Monaco Slums" along with "Happy Birthday Roddy"
soon filled the air. And it got even louder when the Saints players
emerged from the underground dressing rooms.
For the game itself it was obvious the difference in quality from the kick-off. Saints were under pressure straight away and Main was forced into the first of many world-class saves in the first 5 minutes as Treesaregay and the bleached Simpletone tried to kill the tie off early. But we held on. Most of the Tax-Dodgers attacks were aimed down the right against Blaster (obviously based on his form in the Motherwell game), but despite suffering from a lack of pace in the heat of the stadium he still managed to make the tackles.
Saints main problem was getting the ball forward to the strike pairing of Miguel (hacked most of the time) and Messiah (who unfortunately still looks well short of match fitness), and even more importantly, the midfield pushing forward to support. Chief, Kane and Keyring all struggled against the likes of Gallardo as Saints were kept under constant pressure for the first half-hour.
30
minutes gone though, and with the score still 0-0, the Saints support
began to really sing as it looked like we might hold our own. And with
Keyring pushing forward before half-time to earn Saints their first corner
and test Baldy Barthez as the Monaco defence struggled we almost began to
get optimistic.
The same feelings continued after the break with Monaco resorting to the dives and niggles that seem to prevale amongst the continental style as Saints continued to frustrate them. Then we had a moment of glory when Eusebio broke through onto a long ball and beat the two Tax-Dodging defenders to try and slip it past Baldy. He didn't but for a while I began to believe we might sneak it, especially with the ref managing to have a pretty decent game.
With Messiah tiring, St. Sandy put on the Hero of Vaasa, Nat King Goals to partner Eusebio up front. 65 minutes gone and God was really on our side as Main saw a Simpletone shot hit the post and Gallardo slot in the rebound. With the tax-dodging supporters waving their ticker tape and getting excited for the first time in the game, the ref chalked the goal off for offside. Oh how we laughed and began the chants of "What a waste of money" at Simpletone. In retrospect this was possibly not a good idea.
Two minutes later we had our first booking of what was a fairly clean game overall when Blaster got a yellow for throwing a punch at a Tax-Dodger.
Another two minutes later and Simpletone broke the deadlock with a 20-yard drive past Main. Cue for more ticker tape and the first signs of disappointment amongst the Saints fans. And three minutes later it was 2-0 when Simpletone broke down the left and sent a cross over for Treesaregay to tap home.
Saints were by no means out of it though and Del had a wonderful run into the box, beating 2-3 tax-dodgers before Barthez came to block. But even with the corners, you got the feeling it would take a miracle to score. At the other end Main was still performing heroics although it has to be said that both Weir and Danny played out of their skins as well with the latter having one overhead backheel clearance and Cap'n Jim putting the heavy tackles in.
St.
Sandy went for damage limitation and strangely put McCluskey on for Miguel
leaving Nathan up front on his own for the last 10 minutes (and picking up
a yellow with 4 minutes to go). Just as the last minutes ticked away and
we were all willing to settle for 2-0 and a chance at home, Simpletone
broke into the box from the left and sent a 15 yarder passed Main for the
Monaco third. A total sickener for the Saints fans and the wee Italian
shite delighted in celebrating in front of us. S
o that was the first leg. All we have to do now is put 4 past the World Cup winning keeper whilst hoping that Simpletone and Treesaregay break their legs in training in the next fortnight. Miracles do happen though.
Performance wise it's hard to fault any of the team. St. Sandy had the tactics right for the game although I'd have liked to see us have a go when the score went to 2-0. We needed more quality in midfield but against opposition like the tax dodgers, it's difficult to see what would have made much difference. MoM for me by far was Alan Main and if he isn't the first choice Scotland keeper now then Pa Broon should be for the off. As for the fans well yet again we outsang and outchanted the home fans.
And no matter what happens in the home leg I for one wouldn't have missed this trip for the world.