UEFA Cup 3rd Qualifying Round 1st Leg
UEFA Cup 3rd Qualifying Round 1st LegVPS Vaasa 1 Saints 1
Team :
Main,McQ,Bollan,Weir,Dods,Dasovic,Kane,O'Neil,Miguel,Keyring, McMahon
Subs :
Ferguson,Lauchlan,Griffin,McCluskey,Lowndes,Grant,O'Halloran
First
of all this report doesn't even begin to describe the atmosphere of the
ground, occasion and the 300 Saints fans that totally outsang the 2000 or
so home supporters. Simply said, it was one of the best matches I've ever
attended. Saints fans partied for 2 days to work up to the 90 minutes on
the park (although in hindsight the game was one of the few things not
discussed or sung about in the bars beforehand). So we went and bought our
VPS tops, scarves etc. Got our free programmes and sang about everything
under the sun before the game.
Then it went a bit pear-shaped as Saints proceeded to miss a barrowload of chances, whilst at the same time looking more suspect than ever in every area of the park. Not that VPS were that good and they had a helluva lot of help from a Russian ref who seemed to let every hard tackle the Finns put in go whilst booking Kane for a similar offence. Pope came down with the flu (later found out to be tonsillitis) which meant a reshuffle of midfield. But St. Sandy decided to go the whole hog and play Gerry the Karaoke King and Miguel up front, whilst Keyring moved to the left wing for his first start of the season.
Fair play anthems and handshake rituals out of the way, the game kicked off with Saints kicking into a glorious evening sunshine (which didn't help the Saints fans eyes trying to make out what was going on). Still the early signs were good with Gerry getting forward and forcing the VPS keeper to make some saves. Of course that wasn't going to last with the Karaoke King getting caught offside almost every single time the ball was played forward after that.
Saints were making plenty of chances. Eusebio had a shot go close and McQ saw a drive cleared off the line after it seemed like every Saints player had tried to have a go. At the other end, things weren't looking too sharp as Main saw any form desert him when it came to kicking or dealing with passbacks with 2 efforts going to the feet of VPS players.
With half an hour gone, VPS began to string some passes together and look a bit sharper. Our midfield vanished from the scene of play or worse (in the case of Kane) manage to constantly pass the ball to a Finnish player. U-21 striker Auntie Paula (I think) came closest with a volley which Main managed to get a hand to and tip over the bar - it's nice to see him making such wonder saves but you have to question whether we want to see it when playing some Finnish part-timers?
Of course the wonder save should have boosted Saints confidence. But it didn't as with 5 minutes of the first half to go every nightmare came true. A cross from the right came off Forrest Gump. Blaster was nowhere to be found and Auntie Paula got in to slide the ball into the net. Cue for stunned silence amongst the Saints supporters and major sweetie paper rustling from the home fans.
After that the rest of the first half got worse with VPS almost getting a second with a blasting drive which Main held at the 2nd attempt before Boris the Ref called a halt to the torture.
Second-half began to most fans dismay with the same 11 blue shirts on the park. But it looked like St. Sandy had read the riot act to the players as they began to play the ball to feet and win some challenges. A Saints corner on the 50 minute mark saw Weir head down and with the keeper and defence beaten Eusebio managed to blast the ball over from 6 yards. It was about then you began to get the feeling it might not be our day. St. Sandy finally livened things up with an hour gone and on came Roderick the Legend for Miguel - strange when you consider that Mr McMahon was contributing zero to the cause at the time.
Roddy may be advancing in years but his ability to hold the ball and win some of the challenges (combined with a natural talent for dealing with pub teams) saw Saints start to put some pressure on the Finns defence - their answer was to start the hacking and timewasting at every opportunity. Roddy had a couple of chances and the VPS keeper started to make some errors. Del missed a sitter when the keeper dropped the ball and Cap'n Jim had a 20-yard volley well saved as we pushed forward.
Finally St. Sandy realised who was needed on the park and the Ginger Bomber came on for Gerry to the sounds of the despondent Saintees singing "We cannae score in a brothel".
Nathan's
pace made a lot of difference and we began to force a series of corners.
Then with 15 minutes to go McQ got down the right and sent a low shot into
the box. Somehow it missed the defenders and keeper who was well out of
position. But it didn't miss the boot of the Ginger Bomber who slotted the
ball home. Cue for Saints to start singing "We're gonnae score in a
brothel"
After that we dominated the game. Legend should have scored late on but Koko the Klown headed off the line. By then of course we should have had at least one penalty as Vaasa tried to test the Saints strip for fabric stretch - especially Roddy's top which seemed to be pulled off half the time. The final whistle when it came was a bit of a disappointment as by then we were well in control with the Finns visibly tiring. Still Boris the Ref probably didn't want to influence any bonus payment by seeing Saints score in injury time.
MoM for me was Roddy, Nathan and Del with the latter finally showing some of last season's form. We still need a striker though hopefully Nathan has done more than enough to earn a run in the team from the start. We should qualify, especially that VPS now need to go on the attack in Perth. I can only hope that Saints don't underestimate them this time.
Right I'm off to the drying out clinic.