Saints got their pre-season programme underway on Saturday with the recently re-named D&K Cup Tournament. Keyline, the long standing sponsors of this annual event, had decided not to continue their support this year therefore Saints were delighted when shirt sponsors D&K Lafferty Contractors agreed to sponsor this the 20th tournament.
Due to call offs from Alloa Athletic and Heart of Midlothian, Albion Rovers and Fort William were invited to take part, Rovers making their tournament debut and Fort William returning after an absence of several years. A very late call off by St. Johnstone left tournament organised David Buchanan insufficient time to find a suitable replacement so the event went ahead with five teams instead of the usual six. Despite the change in numbers the tournament format remained the same except that the matches lasted 40 minutes not 30 as in previous years.
Oban Saints D&K Cup 2013 Squad
Tournament regulars Dundee United and Hamilton Academical got proceedings underway at Mossfield where a headed goal from defender and Player of the Tournament Lee Kilday gave Accies a 1 - 0 win. Over on the rugby pitch goals from Ryan Tiffney and Ross Dunlop secured victory for Albion Rovers over Fort William.
Saints first match was a 0 - 0 draw at Mossfield with tournament debutants Albion Rovers. The game had few clear cut chances with Saints acquitting themselves very well against their Scottish Football League First Division opponents. Saints best effort was a free kick from Willie Gemmell which was well saved by Rovers goalkeeper Graeme Shepherd. The closest Rovers came to scoring was a well struck angled drive from that well known player A. Trialist which was acrobatically saved by Saints goalkeeper Graham Douglas. Meanwhile on the rugby pitch goals from Andy Ryan, Eamonn Brophy and Greg Docherty gave Hamilton Academical a comfortable 3 - 0 win over Fort William.
Next up for Saints was the local derby match with Fort William refereed by former Campbeltown Pupils player Archie Mitchell. Saints were the better side throughout and ran out comfortable 3 - 0 winners. On the score sheet for Saints were Willie Gemmell with a trade mark free kick, guest player Brian MacKay with a powerful left foot shot from the edge of the box and Donald Campbell also from the edge of the box. On the rugby pitch Dundee United and Albion Rovers drew 1 - 1. Jordan Allan levelling for United after Kevin Nicoll had given Rovers the lead.
Saints moved over to the rugby pitch to face tournament favourites Hamilton. A win for Accies would guarantee them a first ever tournament win but a win for Saints would keep their hopes of a second ever tournament win alive going into the final round of matches. Saints put a great fight against their SFL First Division opponents with goalkeeper Graham Douglas pulling off a string of excellent saves. The Saints defence was eventually breached by Louis Longridge and the 1 - 0 victory was enough to give Hamilton Academical their first ever "Oban Tournament" win. On pitch one at Mossfield Fort William's miserable afternoon continued wit a 7 - 0 defeat at the hands of Dundee United. Scorers for the Arabs were the aptly named duo of Jordan's Allan and Moore. The former with one goal, the latter with six.
Saints rounded off their afternoon's work with another creditable performance this time against tournament top scorers Dundee United. The Premier League club had sent their under 20's squad and Manager Stevie Campbell was very satisfied wit their second place finish. Goals from the two Jordan Allan and tournament top scorer Jordan Moore eventually got the better of a tiring Saints team. Over on pitch one Tournament winners Hamilton Accies continued their 100% record with a 2 - 0 victory over local rivals Albion Rovers. Scorers for Accies were Grant Gillespie and man of many clubs A. Trialist.
The Saints Squad for the 2013 D&K Cup was:-
Donald Campbell, Alex Craik, Dene Cassells, Graham Douglas, Asen Gaydarzhiev, Willie Gemmell, Paul Kerr, Marc MacCallum, Allan MacKay, Ross Maitland, Keith Millar (Captain), Mattie Rippon, PJ Sinclair, Sommin Kurishita, Sonin Kurishita, Soyon Kurishita and Brain MacKay.
Accies Skipper Jon Routledge receives the trophy from Saints Secretary and tournament organiser David Buchanan
D&K Cup Winners 2013 Hamilton Academical
Saints' Sonin Kurishita with the obligatory stray dog pitch invader.
(Insert your own tasteless joke here)
Saints continue their pre-season programme on Saturday 20th July with a home game against Westerlands AFC of the Caledonian League Premier Division. Kick off at Glencruitten is at 1400 hours.
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