The decision was announced on Friday night to shocked supporter's groups who immediately commenced formulating a protest to this flagrant flouting of the Club's traditions.
A boycott of the first 45 minutes of Saturday's match was arranged and a picket line set up at the gate.
With the first half boycott impeccably observed, the match against relegation threatened Inverclyde kicked off at a virtually deserted Oban High School 3G pitch. In an amazing display of solidarity with the disgruntled fans the Saints players initially refused to take the field and only relented upon being threatened with disciplinary action by the referee.
The match eventually got underway and it soon became apparent that the Saints players had opted to continue their recalcitrance on the field of play. To cries from the bench of "c'mon, we haven't started yet" the players proceeded to concede possession at every opportunity and no attempt was made to progress beyond the half way line.
On their first foray into the Inverclyde half Saints were awarded a free kick on the edge of the box. As Saints midfielder Willie Gemmell attempted to lump the ball over the fence behind the goal and into the adjacent Games Park disaster struck and he miss-hit the ball into the Inverclyde net. There were no celebrations from the Saints players and the suitably embarrassed goal scorer trudged red faced back to his own half for the re-start.
It took the normally reliable dead ball expert only three minutes to atone for his error. Inverclyde won a corner which was flighted gently into the Saints box. Seizing his opportunity Gemmell, instead of nodding the ball to safety, stood statuesque in the penalty area affording Inverclyde a free header and a simple equaliser. As the half wore on the Saints players continued their protest this time with defender Alex Craik allowing Inverclyde's centre forward to easily turn away from him and shoot into the bottom corner of Saints 'keeper Daniel Cassells' goal.
The referee blew the whistle for half-time which was the signal for the Saints fans to end their protest. As the supporters streamed into the ground they were greeted by the sight and sound of Saints Manager Iain Jackson launching a tirade in the direction of his players, reminding them in no uncertain terms that places in next weeks cup final were at stake so they had better start playing to their capabilities.
Saints took the field for the second half with an altogether different attitude and were on the front foot straight from the kick off. Saints had the visitors under constant pressure and the beleaguered Inverclyde rear guard were reduced to punting the ball aimlessly up field. On one such occassion the ball fell kindly for 'Clyde's lone front man who hit a hopeful shot goal bound. Saints goalkeeper Daniel Cassells, clearly under the impression that the players' protest was to last the full 90 minutes, allowed the ball to sail easily over his head and into the net.
3 - 1 to Inverclyde and that really should have been game over however Saints Manager Iain Jackson had other ideas and in an attempt to win back the wavering Saints fans he opted for an audacious switch to an all out attack 2 - 3 - 5 formation. The switch quickly paid off and Saints dragged themselves level with goals from Assen Gaydarzhiev and Captain Keith Millar. Indeed Saints should have won the match in stoppage time but the "goal" was inexplicably ruled out by the referee.
The full time whistle was blown and the Inverclyde players celebrated wildly as a share of the points was enough to secure their Premier Division status for another season.
After the match a supporter's group representative implored Saints Secretary Davie Buchanan not to make the change of kick off time a permanent feature. To which Davie replied........
#monthesaints.
No comments:
Post a Comment