Match Day vs Oxford Utd (H)   

Wednesday July 21st 1999 by                       

Final Score Saints 0 Oxford 1 by Roving Ross  


“.....bring on Oxford!”

Looking at the final score, it would appear I was getting a bit carried away with Saints pre-season form, when I made the above statement in my last match report.

Despite the result though, Saints were by far the better team and it was only the rough house tactics of a, perhaps, overly competitive Oxford side which won the game. The saints players showed great maturity in the light of such provocation from the English side and stuck to playing football rather than pick up bookings and suspensions in what was,after all, a meaningless friendly.

Within the opening few minutes, Tom Hendrie twice leapt from the dug out to pitch-side after a reckless challenge from an Oxford player. In the fifteenth minute he was out of his seat once again when Oxford’s Peter Fear, having fouled Chris Kerr, also decided to stamp on the Saints No.3. Despite his leniency in dealing with the previous cases, the referee had no option this time and the Wimbledon reject was shown the red card.

Saints were fired up by this and decided to show the English side that, although they could kick people, we could actually play football.

The first chance of the match fell to Steven McGarry. Scott Walker fed the ball to Mark Yardley, he nodded it into the path of Mr.Muscles, whose first time effort was well saved by Andre Arendse in the Oxford goal.

Saints continued to put the pressure on Arendse’s goal and Yardley came close with a glancing header, following an excellent passing move.

Colin Drew was next up,this time his rasping shot from the right hand corner of the box was tipped over by the South African international goalkeeper.

On the 30 minute mark though, Saints were hit by the killer blow with a poor goal -from a black and white point of view.

Chris Kerr was caught out of position on the left, allowing Oxford space to attack. Les Robinson took advantage of this space, and when his cross was met by the head of Jamie Cook 10 yards out, it seemed a routine save for Derek Scrimgour - Scrimgour’s feet, though, hardly left the ground as the ball looped over him and into the back of the net.

Despite 15 minutes remaining, the first half basically ended here with no further action at either end.

Once the game had restarted, Saints took the upper hand once again and even if they couldn’t score, they certainly showed their English opposition how to win a corner - 5 in the opening few minutes.

Again Yardley was leading the line well, and with the help of Tom Brown, he created a good chance for McGarry who failed to do the build up any justice.
It was Yardley again who created another opportunity when he was fouled 25 yards from goal, but Sergei Baltacha’s resultant free kick went straight into the hands of the Arendse.

It was clear Saints weren’t going to score from open play and set pieces were the best chance of a goal, but the deliveries were poor and only twice - when an Oxford defender headed narrowly over his own goal, and when Colin Drew had a tremendous volley blocked by an opponent- did they come close to getting an equaliser.

St.Mirren: Scrimgour, Drew (Robinson, 75), Kerr, Turner, Baltacha, Walker, Murray, Brown, McGarry (K.Gallagher, 75), Mendes, Yardley Subs not used: Rudden, S.Gallagher, Roy

Oxford: Arendse, Robinson, Powell, Fear, Davis, Gilchrist, Cook (Murray, 60), Tait, Anthrobus (Thomson, 73), Witherspoon, Beauchamp Subs not used: Whelan, Watson

Sizzling Saint: I seem to say it after every game but once more I’ll say that the back three showed why they are regarded as the best defence in the first division. Tommy Turner,Scott Walker and Sergei Baltacha all looked solid but I’ll give it to Colin Drew who, although not yet fully fit, showed great enterprise on the right wing and with a bit of luck could have found himself on the scoresheet.



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