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Reserves Rolled Over
There are games you go to and think afterwards, why the hell did I bother, well there have been more than a few of them of late and today's reserve game proved no exception. I dragged myself out of my pit and nightshift mode to make the 2pm kick off and was rewarded with Killie's table topping team turning into total tumshies. Killie lined up in a bog standard 442 formation with Sean McGhee at right back, Steven Noble on the left and Jamie Hammill and Ryan O'Leary in the centre. Craig Bryson and Iain Flannigan were elected to pull the strings in midfield with Tam Nolan wide right and Paul McInnes on the opposite wing. Up front it was Scott Anson and Daniel McKay's job to get the goals. Going into this match St Mirren were second in the league to Killie's first but they had the best 'goals for' column in the division. They reinforced that statistic with a goal in the third minute! Left winger Marc Corcoran, who scored for them against Hearts on Sunday, was allowed far too much space by Sean McGhee at the edge of the area and lashed an unstoppable effort into the Rascle's top right hand corner. A sign of things to come. Nine minutes later Saints went close again when the ball was driven in low and skidded past everyone and out for a corner. Killie's first chance came in the 20th minute from a corner at the other end when the keeper could only punch Flannigan's well taken kick out as far as Hammill whose shot was cleared off the line. Three minutes later another Flannigan corner was punched out to Craig Bryson 25 yards out. The midfielder wellied it from where he stood but the ball flashed over the bar and away didn't trouble the keeper. It may seem from this report that Killie were in the ascendancy but to be fair it was probably eachy peachy at this stage. Nothing much, apart from a 30 yard effort from Nolan easily handled by Howard, happened until the 41st minute. Again Corcoran found himself in space on the left and cut the ball back from the byeline, past a stranded Rascle, to Stephen McGinn who slotted the ball home at the near post to make the score 0-2 in favour of the visitors. From the re-start Saints went for the jugular again and it was only a goal line clearance from Hammill that prevented St Mirren from going even further ahead. The first 45 minutes was pretty scrappy with neither side really able to maintain possession but it was Killie who looked the most relieved when the referee blew for half time. Killie started more brightly in the second half but it didn't last long. Eight minutes in Saints hit Killie on the counter and a cross from the right found Corcoran in space who cut the ball back for Kean to crash the ball home past a static Rascle. Are you sensing a pattern here yet? "You've found your level Kean" came a cry from the stand. That Richard Cairns, you can take him nowhere. All was not lost however and the home fans were given the chance to cheer in the 56th minute. A lung-bursting Anson run ended up as a corner and once again Howard was only able to parry Flannigan's cross ball. Make-shift centre half Jamie Hammill was lurking on the edge of the area and drilled a low shot into the bottom corner to make the score line look a bit more respectable. Seconds after the re-start McKay had a decent chance when Howard slipped up with a back pass but the keeper recovered well and the danger was averted. Killie started pressing a little more and Nolan was proving to be a decent outlet on the right wing, but, As is so often the case, there was no end product and it was St Mirren who took their chances. In the 68th minute Saint's fourth and final goal came courtesy of one-time Killie target Gary Brady who's run from the centre circle saw him go round two Kilmarnock players and slip the ball to Alex Burke who was only too happy to dispatch it into the net. St Mirren were well worth their win and Jim Jeffries and Billy Brown, watching from the stand, will have their troubles to seek if they were hoping to see anyone to replace some of our injured first team for Saturday. Hammill had a decent enough game despite being part of a defence which shipped four goals but most impressive for me was Tam Nolan who finished the game playing up front. To be fair Killie had a very young team compared with Saints but then again their average age must have been about 64 with the inclusion of Andy Millen. Corcoran was a constant threat to us and McGhee may well have nightmares about him for weeks. Report card says - must do better.
Killie - Rascle, McGhee, Noble,
Hamill, O'Leary, Flannigan, Nolan, Bryson, McKay (Wright 76), McInnes
(Brown 76), Anson
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