It's not nice to be looking for the Falkirk score as soon as the game ends, but that's the situation we were currently in. We either seem to play well and fail to score, play reasonably well, score and then throw it away, or play poorly and not score. Today was certainly in the latter category but thankfully, despite having plenty of decent chances, Hamilton also failed to score.
It was a must win game from our point of view and you have to wonder where the next three points are going to come from. So far this season we've failed to beat St. Johnstone or Hamilton and failed to beat Falkirk at home, although we did beat them away. We're unbeaten against Kilmarnock in games against them, but we really need to start producing points quickly. We're in a lot of trouble at the bottom and if we don't turn things around pronto we could find ourselves in an even bigger problem than we were last May.
Despite reported injury problems, Saints boss Gus MacPherson stuck with the side that drew against Kilmarnock seven days ago. That meant Jack Ross was the only defender missing, with the other four all declared fit despite an apparent injury crisis. Nice bit of mind games from Gus. Hamilton went with Dougie Imrie on his own up front, although Alex Neil and James McArthur in midfield meant they were going to be a handful to cope with. To be honest, we all knew Hamilton were going to go with a lone striker, so why not revert to a 4-4-2 - especially with some defenders struggling to make the game?
Some bizarre officialdom decreed that black and white stripes clashed with all orange, so Saints took to the field sporting their black away kit. Perhaps that confused Paul Gallacher after just a few minutes, resulting in him duffing a kick-out straight to Simon Mensing. Tbe bald midfielder played in McArthur who looked odds on to score, but somehow he missed the target with his shot. That should have been a wake-up call but we were finding it difficult to cope with the visitors and we were fortunate when an Imrie shot sailed just off target - and even more fortunate when McArthur just failed to dind Mensing with a cross after getting the better of Innes. McArthur was tearing the defence apart on Hamilton's left side and delivered another teasing ball that Innes managed to put behind for a corner, which Neil volleyed wide.
A rare Saints chance ended in similar fashion as Michael Higdon failed to trouble Tomas Cerny after getting the better of his marker. Despite starting the game, it was clear Innes was having problems with injury and his day was done after 20 minutes when he was replaced by Allan Johnston. Hardly the change I imagine most of us would have gone for, especially as it involved Andy Dorman moving to right winback! Sure enough, we continued to have trouble at the back and James Wesolowski was unlucky to see his shot hit the advertising boards to the right of goal.
In a rare moment of action at the other end, Dorman got onto the end of a Higdon flick-on, but his shot on the turn was straight at Cerny. Our free-kicks aren't usually particularly good but Billy Mehmet produced a decent one for once, Cerny doing well to save, before the striker again tested the keeper. Dorman was next to try his luck with a shot on goal but again Cerny was equal to it, before Mensing shot inches over at the other end.
Sometime in amongst this half decent period of play we'd finally changed to 4-4-2, with Barron slotting in behind Dorman and Robb and Johnston patrolling the left. This was the way we started the second half, but surely if this was the long term plan it would have been better to bring on Graham Carey and play him at leftback in behind Robb? Brian Easton, booked for a challenge on Hugh Murray, showed just what a natural leftback can dop when he delivered a cross that turned into a fantastic shot, almost dropping under the bar before Paul Gallacher managed to tip it away. The Paixao brothers were introduced at different stages early in the first half, Flavio and Marco replacing Wesolowski and Trent McLenahan respectively. With an hour gone Saints made another change, the disappointing Higdon being replaced by Craig Dargo.
After McArthur had another shot saved by Gallacher, Dargo wasted no time in making an impact - literally - on Alex Neil. His first challenge on the midfielder earned him a booking, but he didn't learn his lesson and seconds later fouled him again - somehow not receiving a booking on on this occasion. You almost expected MacPherson to replace him after that, but instead he finally brought on Carey in place of Dorman, with Johnston switching sides.
The changes didn't really help us much, McArthur having a couple more chances that failed to bear fruit before Flavio Paixio's header was blocked. A corner from the Marco variety proved troublesome, McLaughlin heading it just wide. We then had a good laugh when Billy Reid threw a strop after a free-kick was awarded against his side and McLaughlin picked up a booking for some niggling away at someone. Carey's free-kick was good, but Cerny smothered it at the second attempt. The only other excitement came in stoppage time, Mehmet and David Elebert being booked after challenging each other to a square go.
Sadly, that was the most fight we seemed to show all day. OK, we were struggling a bit with injuries, but that doesn't excuse a disappointing performance and very little in the way of chances. Still, not to worry - it's only Rangers at Ibrox next...