Match report

Monday, 11 May 2009
Saints ease to last game win

IRN-BRU Scottish Football League First Division
Airdrie United (0) v Saints (4)
Attendance [633]

It was a relaxed atmosphere as Saints and Airdrie United fulfilled this final fixture of the First Division campaign, both sides knowing the outcome of their season irrespective of the outcome of this affair carried over from Saturday when the heavy rain put paid to the scheduled game.

For the home side that outcome is the need to be involved in the relegation play-offs which begin on Thursday and for that reason it was a young Airdrie side who took the field.

Saints themselves gave debuts to two members of the Under 17 side - Stephen Reynolds and Johnny Lindsay - and so lined with up Euan Mclean in goal, a full back pairing of Lindsay and Steven Doris, Graham Gartland and Steven Anderson at centre half, a midfield four of Gavin Swankie, Paul Sheerin, Kevin Moon and Collin Samuel plus a front pairing of Graham Barrett and Stephen Reynolds.

Two other members of the Under 17 squad, Stevie May and Mark Durnan made the bench. The nature and circumstance of the game resulted in only 633 fans attending.

There were only 56 seconds on the clock when Saints carved out their first goal scoring opportunity, Graham Barrett seeing his shot canon off the legs of Hollis in the Airdrie goal and the same player burst through little more than a minute later but fired wide.

It was all Saints in the opening spell and Collin Samuel raced onto a through ball but couldn’t control it sufficiently to fashion a shooting chance for himself.

In 16 minutes a Stephen Reynolds-won corner kick was swung over by Sheerin, retrieved by Samuel and returned to the veteran midfielder whose parting effort curled just over the bar.

Prompted by Moon – captain for the night – and Sheerin in the middle of the park and Swankie and Samuel in the wide areas Saints were playing some nice stuff and when Reynolds flicked the ball onto Sheerin, his cross was just inches out of the reach of Barrett despite the lively front man’s best efforts.

After almost total domination of the opening quarter of the game, the home side settled down and started to put some passes together but the Saints defence coped well and it was the visitors who continued to look the more likely to score – Swankie and Samuel having swapped wings in a bid to create the breakthrough.

Stephen Reynolds almost did just that in 27 minutes when he got his head to a Swankie in-swinging corner but his connection was probably too firm and he saw his effort flash over the bar.

Euan McLean was finally called into action in 33 minutes and what a good job he did, reacting quickly to push away a McGuire effort for a corner kick.

Four minutes before the interval, Moon released Barrett but under pressure from a chasing defender he hoisted his lob well over the bar. The striker had been unlucky with his earlier efforts but he really should have done better with that one and the interval came with no goals for either side.

However, just four minutes of the second half were on the clock when Saints finally made the breakthrough their play merited.

Stephen Reynolds and Collin Samuel were involved in the build up, the latter laying the ball off to Johnny Lindsay whose deep cross was met by the head of Barrett and when the keeper failed to deal with it, Paul Sheerin sent an effort against the post, the ball fell back to Barrett who laid it off to Gavin Swankie (pictured) and the former Arbroath man drove the ball home for his fourth goal of the campaign.

A flurry of substitutions from both sides dominated the next 25 minutes of play – Steven Milne and Chris Millar replacing Reynolds and Samuel for Saints. Hollis produced a great save from Steven Anderson who got on the end of a Swankie free kick and then Steven Milne somehow fired wide after latching onto a great ball from Millar and outpacing his marker.

With ten minutes remaining Saints made the points safe with a second goal. Graham Barrett won a corner kick and Anderson rose unchallenged at the back post to head Sheerin’s corner into the net.

Shortly after that Stevie May was introduced to the fray for his debut and was on the field for only a matter of minutes before he was celebrating his first senior goal. Chris Millar and Paul Sheerin combined to release the youngster and he latched onto the long ball before rifling the ball diagonally across Hollis and into the net.

The 3-0 scoreline was no less than Saints deserved and indeed there was time for a fourth goal with what proved to be the last kick of the ball. Not much came off for the hard-working Barrett but he finished with style from 12 yards to get his first goal for the club.

A deserved win by a make-shift side and good way to end the victorious league campign.

SAINTS: McLean, Doris, Lindsay, Moon, Anderson, Gartland, Swankie (May), Reynolds (Milne), Barrett, Samuel (Millar), Sheerin.
Subs not used: Durnan, Clark

Airdrie Utd: Hollis, Bain, Hazley, McCabe, Floan, Taylor, Keast (McCluskey), Watt (Donnelly), Mcguire (Donnaghy), Brown, Noble.
Subs Not Used: Byrne, Collier.

Referee: Anthony Law

Att: 633