Saints 0-0 Clyde

Last updated : 05 March 2005 By Stuart Gillespie
Sod all happened for the first 75 minutes. Saints had a first half goal through John O'Neill disallowed as he was apparently offside when Simon Lappin's free kick was whipped in to him. Lappin took it well and O'Neill headed it well past Bryn Halliwell, but the linesman had his flag up early. I didn't think it was offside, and when Brian McGinty was comically given offside a few minutes later despite at least two Clyde players clearly being behind him, it confirmed something for me: the linesman is a fool.

Apart from that sod all happened in the first half, McGinty heading over from close range and Clyde producing some defending which reminded me of the good old days of Tom Hendrie and John Coughlin managing us.

The second half was a little better, with a trademark Kirk Broadfoot charge forward causing some excitement, whilst McGinty hit the bar with a fine shot. Wondering why there's no mention of Clyde yet? That's because they did sod all! They came for a point and played extremely defensively. Exciting it ain't. How do Clyde fans put up with that every week.

Anyway, the last five minutes or so saw some excitement. Hugh Murray picked up a booking after being fouled by Clyde thug and Craig Bellamy's mate Darren Sheridan, who had already been booked. Shuggy aimed a kick at the bald bloke (doesn't narrow it down, most Clyde players are bald) and was lucky not to walk. Sadly he did seconds later as he failed to keep the head, stupidly fouling ex Saint Alex Burns.

Simon Lappin could have joined him soon after for a bad tackle on Mark Gilhaney and then an altercation with the striker, but somehow only got a booking for his part. Seconds later Sheridan was off for another bad tackle which brought him his second yellow card.

Both teams had last minute chances to win, a Clyde player trying to beat Hinchcliffe with a cross come shot and Broadfoot forcing Halliwell into a fantastic save in the last minute.

A point was probably fair and this game was a bit more exciting, but the red cards came as a result of the referee failing to stamp his authority on the game.

Should make Tuesday fun!