As we head into December we've had a fairly up and down season so far. Leaving aside the unresolved off the field saga of the 9 points, on the pitch we are unbeaten against all our main Dublin rivals with some emphatic wins over Shels, Rovers and Bohs but on the down side we have dropped points at home to the supposedly weaker teams like Monaghan and UCD.

Through all the ups and downs we have seen plenty of drama and in fairness to the players some excellent goals. Here's a personal selection of the pick of the bunch so far:

Ger McCarthy v. Bohs Dalymount Park. 30.11.01
Stunning 87th minute lob on the turn by Pat's pacey forward. Usually slated for his lack of control and vision, McCarthy defied his critics by spotting Wayne Russell off his line and lobbing the ball into the net from 30-yards out on the left wing when most other players would have headed for the corner flag to run down the clock. Great goal.

Charles Livingston Mbabazi v. Galway United Terryland Park 12.10.01
The Ugandan international is our top scorer so far with 9 goals. Rarely scores an ordinary goal so its difficult to pick one out of the list but for me the opening goal away to Galway United was a typically brilliant individual goal which sums up his class. After eight minutes he ran on to a Paul Marney pass down the right before hitting an unstoppable strike low into the bottom left corner. Close second would be his strike against Bray Wanderers at Richmond and who could forget the little celebratory jig after he got the winner against Shels in the 3-2 game? Not a great goal but one of the best goal celebrations from both player and fans!

Martin Russell v. Shelbourne, Richmond Park 18.10.01.
Continuously criticised by some fans who are too quick to give out about a missed tackle here and there and too slow to acknowledge that this set-piece genius has been responsible for 14 of our goals this season. The opening goal against Shels speaks for itself as Russell confirmed that he is indeed the league's dead ball master. Thankfully captured by the RTE cameras who missed out on his other stunning free-kick strike against Longford Town. If scoring a couple of frees still doesn't convince you of his all round worth to the Saints than just ask Paul Osam, Colm Foley and Daragh Maguire if they would have scored any this season if Rusty wasn't supplying the delivery at frees and corners. Great player, essential to the Saints this season.

Disagree with the above selection? Well have your say in the Independent Saints Supporters' Message Board here!