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Saints Sunk
Dalziel 10 Dumfries Saints 0
Saints travelled to Motherwell looking for revenge against Dalziel and hoping to get their promotion campaign back on track. An almost full squad was available and they also welcomed the return of Kenny Brown to the back row, a Saints star over the past few seasons.
The game started reasonably well on a pitch that was as near perfect as could be expected in the current weather. Saints had most of the early pressure and appeared to be imposing themselves on the game. However too many silly mistakes and poor decisions were costing them dearly and preventing them from getting any reward for their labours.
The first quarter was definitely the best for Saints as there after their game steadily declined. Prop Gareth McCall was taken off with a shoulder injury and frustratingly the normally reliable Andy Walker missed several very kickable penalties. The Saints performance declined and they were fortunate to make half time at 0-0.
Unfortunately the half time coaches input failed on this occasion to lift the team from their slump. The second half has to go down as one of the poorest Saints performances for many a season as they failed to lift themselves and despite encouraging performances from James Currie, Kenny Brown and Stuart Clanachan the forwards came off second best. Amongst the backs who struggled to make any impression with the limited ball they received youngster Andrew Whiteford showed flashes of potential that promises well for the future.
All in all it was a very disappointing performance for all concerned and it has certainly put Saints second place in the table under pressure. There is plenty to work on this week in training for all squad members and the coaches take comfort in knowing the side cannot play this poorly again!
Team; G McCall, K Geddes, R Dunlop, A Mather, B Stanley, D Brown, J Little, S Clanachan, F Miller, A Walker, D Satala, A Bryden, K Henderson, C Bryson, R Steele, subs all used A Whiteford, S MacKinnon, J Currie.