In recent weeks Saints seemed to have had a shocker of a first half, followed by a really good second half. Today it seemed to be the other way around, as the first half performance was superb. Brian McGinty got through a power of work, beating players for fun and using his pace to good effect. However, he never seemed to have a clear cut opportunity.
The first real chances for Saints fell to midfielders. John O'Neill fired a trundling shot which posed no problems to the Hamilton keeper. Murray's effort a few minutes later was a different affair, however, when he fired one from range which looked in all the way. The keeper was well beaten, but sadly the ball whistled past. Simon Lappin almost scored a freak goal; his cross almost looping under the bar thanks to the wind.
It's fair to say Hamilton were really poor in the first half, and they were restricted to long range efforts for the most part, which Craig Hinchcliffe dealth with easily.
After half an hour, Saints John O'Neill deservedly picked up a booking. After a good run, he made a ridiculous dive on the edge of the box, and was booked after play stopped. Why the Saints fans complained I'll never know, as it was a stone wall dive. Shortly after, Mixu Paatelainen was warned that one more foul and he'd be booked for persistent fouling.
It was looking like a return to last season, Saints having all the pressure but not making it pay. Fortunately, with around ten minutes until half time, we did make it pay. Mark Reilly managed to win the ball and fed it to Paatelainen, who cooly slotted the ball past the Hamilton keeper into the net. A well deserved goal for Saints, and it was the last action of note in the first half.
After half time, Hamilton came out really fired up, and it was back to the shaky Saints defence. No tackles going in, free headers at corners, and how Hamilton never scored is a flaming miracle. Craig Hinchcliffe pulled off a great save, before a moment of madness saw him charge out of the box to try and help out David van Zanten. Unfortunately the ball broke to Hamilton's Mark Corcoran, and his lob looked to be sailing in until Kirk Broadfoot stretched his leg out and cleared it for a corner. Hamilton continued to diminate the remainder of the half, but thankfully Craig Hinchcliffe managed to keep Hamilton from a point they deserved.
Right that's all that bit out the way, now onto the referee who was a bit of a muppet. He got the O'Neill booking spot on, and he eventually booked Mixu for persistent fouling. Mixu continued to foul, was warned again, and then finally got sent off. He deserved it, and anyone in the ground could see it coming a mile off. However, that was about all the referee got right.
At one stage after Mixu's red card, with John Baird on for McGinty at this point, the referee made an absolute shocker of a decision. Kirk Broadfoot charged forward, and was brought down by the last defender. Had he not, he was in on goal with the option of going himself or squaring for Baird. The referee blew for a foul, but unbelievably only booked the Hamilton player. This was a shocker for two reasons; even after Broadfoot was brought down, Baird was away, so what has happened to the advantage rule? Also, if the referee deems it is a foul, he has to send the guy off. So why only a booking? Madness!
This was almost bettered by the 5 (five) minutes of injury time at the end of the game. The physio was on once all day, so why on earth did we need to keep playing? Was the ref playing until Hamilton scored? And if he's booking and sending off folk for persistent fouling, why did Brian McPhee escape a booking?
Another key moment saw Saints lucky to survive with nine men. After a foul, Hugh Murray decided to push a Hamilton player to the ground. He never got spoken to, which was odd, but the Hamilton players didn't make a fuss about it. Strange.
Overall it was a decent performance from Saints, especially in the first half. The defence looked a bit more stable, though that wouldn't be difficult. Kevin McGowne had a decent game, whilst Andy Millen gave us his usual display of poor crossing and passing. In general the crosses are poor, especially at corners, and we give the other teams free headers. Why?
So on to league leaders Clyde next week, and with us second it should be a good game. Without Mixu, however, we will struggle. Still, tne points from four games is great, and if we can keep it up we should avoid the relegation battle.