Saturday 31st January 2015
Scottish Amateur Football League Jimmy Marshall Trophy 1st Round
Easthall Star AFC v Oban Saints AFC
Stepford Football Centre
1514 Edinburgh Road
Glasgow
G33 4NU
Kick off 2pm
Referee Mr. Gordon Kelso
Saints Are Sunk In Kirkintilloch
Saints West of Scotland Cup hopes were sunk in Scotland's canal capital last Saturday afternoon in an entertaining match far closer than the final scoreline would suggest. The snow capped Kilsyth Hills and Campsie Fells in the distance were a good indication of why this tie had already been twice postponed so full credit to Harestanes for procuring the 3G pitch at Merkland to ensure the match was played at the third time of asking. Manager Iain Jackson had a strong squad to choose from and named a starting line up of Daniel Cassells in goal; a back three of Captain Marc MacCallum, Paul Kerr and Dougal Graham; a midfield of Ross Maitland, Ally McKerracher, Myles McAuley, Donald Campbell and Craig MacEwan; and a strike force of Lewis Cameron and Allan Mackay.
The Hares kicked off with the advantage of the slight breeze and playing into the sun which, bar one heavy shower of rain towards the end of the first half, made for a pleasant afternoon's football for the small crowd. The opening exchanges were very tight with both teams probing for openings which were to prove very hard to come by against the respective defences who were restricting their opponents to shots from distance. Saints first effort came in the fourth minute from Ally McKerracher but the youngster blazed his shot high and wide from the edge of the box after a good knock down from Allan Mackay. The Hares first sight of goal came after 17 minutes when Mark Fitzsimmons fired a low free 20 yard free kick narrowly wide of Daniel Cassells' right hand post. Saints forced their first corner of the match in the 20th minute after good link up play down the right touchline involving Donald Campbell, Ross Maitland and Allan Mackay. Ross Maitland's corner kick from the right was well held by Hares goal keeper Conor O'Boyle who looked very assured throughout. Saints only other attempt of note came after 40 minutes when Allan Mackay held the ball up well on the edge of the Hares box to create a shooting opportunity for Donald Campbell. Unfortunately Donald was unable to keep his shot down and the ball sailed high and wide of target. The Hares also sent their only other attempts of the first half over the cross bar. Firstly full back Stuart McClune failed to keep a long range shot on target then left winger Craig Young headed over from a corner kick.
Saints started the second half strongly and had much the better of opening twenty minutes or so. In the 47th minute Craig MacEwan headed a Donald Campbell free kick inches wide of the goalkeeper's right hand post. In the 59th minute Allan Mackay came agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock when he fired wide from ten yards out following good link up play involving Ally McKerracher and Lewis Cameron. In between those two chances Daniel Cassells pulled off a comfortable save from a Craig Young shot from just inside the Saints penalty area. In the 60th minute Craig MacEwan finally hit the target for Saints only to see his header from a Ross Maitland free kick well saved by Conor O'Boyle in the Hares goal. Saints best chance of the match from open play came in the 70th minute after some excellent wing play from Craig MacEwan. Craig beat full back David Black to send over a tempting cross which found Ally McKerracher in the six yard box. Unfortunately, with the goal gaping, the youngster appeared to be caught in two minds and the chance was lost. Three minutes later, and against the run of play, Saints fell behind. Referee Colin Simpson, who handled proceedings well, awarded Hares a hotly disputed in-direct free kick for hand-ball 26 yards from goal. Substitute Ewan McRae rolled the ball to the side for Hares top scorer Mark Fitzsimmons to fire in his 32nd goal of the season so far beating Daniel Cassells just inside his right here and post. Saints were quickly back on the attack and came close again in the 81st minute when Allan Mackay won a free kick twenty-five yards from goal and slightly left of centre. Allan took the free kick himself and struck the outside of the junction of post and bar with the keeper rooted to the spot. Just one minute later Saints finally got the reward their play deserved when Ally McKerracher was brought down inside the Hares box. With Referee Colin Simpson pointing for a penalty kick Ally appeared to fancy his chances from the penalty spot. Probably mindful of the recent Kevin Mirallas and Leighton Baines incident at Goodison Park, Saints skipper Marc MacCallum was having none of it and demanded that regular penalty taker Allan Mackay assume responsibility. Allan was his usual deadly self from the spot and calmly dispatched the kick sending the goalkeeper the wrong way. Almost immediately from the restart Saints fell behind in extremely unfortunate circumstances. A cruel ricochet in the Saints midfield caught out the defence and set Hares Jamie Broadfoot through on goal. The lethal winger dispatched the ball past Daniel Cassells to restore the Hares lead and undo all of Saints good work. Just two minutes later it was game over, danger man Jamie Broadfoot cut in from the left touchline before thumping an unstoppable shot low into the bottom left corner of the Saints net. Saints carved out their final opportunity in the 87th minute and arguably could have had their second penalty kick. Allan Mackay forced his way into the Harestanes box and appeared to be fouled causing him to send his 16 yard shot over the bar. Much to Allan's bemusement his appeals were dismissed and a goal kick was awarded. Saints Manager Iain Jackson made his one and only change in the 88th minute withdrawing Allan Mackay who had lead the line well against a resolute Hares defence and replacing him with Dean Smith. The match finished without further incident and once again Saints were left to reflect on what might have been. As was the case in the Scottish Amateur Cup against Giffnock North earlier in the season Saints acquitted themselves very well against top class opposition losing out only by the finest of margins. Manager Iain Jackson will be encouraged by what was an excellent all-round performance, especially after a seven week lay-off, which will hopefully prove a catalyst for a serious assault on the league title and Jimmy Marshall Trophy.
Ross Maitland takes on Hares full back Stuart McClune
Craig MacEwan
Craig MacEwan Heads Narrowly Wide
Allan Mackay Converts From The Penalty Spot
This Weekend's Fixture
Oban Saints AFC SAFL Jimmy Marshall Trophy Winners 2013 - 14
Saints begin their defence of the Scottish Amateur Football League Jimmy Marshall Trophy this Saturday with a tricky away trip to Stepford Football Centre to face Easthall Star. Star currently occupy 5th place in Premier Division Two with 18 points from 12 games. After picking up only one point from their opening four matches Star have lost just one game which was away from home at runaway league leaders Drumchapel Amateurs Colts. This run of good league form includes away victories at Dunoon Athletic and Lochgilphead Red Star, and highly creditable away draws at Motherwell Thistle and Drumchapel Amateurs Colts. Formed in 1991 as a Sunday league team Easthall Star enjoyed a reasonable amount of success racking up ten trophies in a fourteen year period between 1993 and 2007. During this successful period they also made two semi-final appearances in the Sunday Scottish Amateur Cup. After a two season sabbatical Easthall Star reinvented themselves as a Saturday team joining the Scottish Amateur Football League for season 2012-13 where they won Division 1B at the first time of asking. With only 4 points separating the teams in second and sixth place in the this season's SAFL Premier Division 2 a second promotion in three seasons is still very much up for grabs for Star.
With their national cup ambitions ended for another season Saints can now focus on getting back into the league tittle race and defending the Jimmy Marshall Trophy which they won for the first time last season. Due to work and other commitments Saints have one or two players unavailable for selection on Saturday however Manager Iain Jackson can still name a strong squad for what will be a tough match on the notoriously difficult playing surface at Stepford. The match must be played to a finish on the day and will go straight to a penalty shoot-out if the teams are level after 90 minutes.
Easthall Star's League Fixtures So Far:-
16th August 2014 Easthall Star 2 - 5 South Camlachie YP
27th August 2014 Easthall Star 2 - 4 Motherwell Thistle
30th August 2014 Easthall Star 0 - 0 Lochgilphead Red Star
6th September 2014 Easthall Star 3 - 4 Ferguslie Star
13th September 2014 Paisley 3 - 6 Easthall Star
20th September 2014 Centre 1 - 2 Easthall Star
11th October 2014 Dunoon Athletic 1 - 3 Easthall Star
8th November 2014 Drumchapel Amateurs Colts 2 - 1 Easthall Star
29th November 2014 Easthall Star 4 - 0 Clydebank
6th December 2014 Lochgilphead Red Star 0 - 1 Easthall Star
10th January 2015 Motherwell Thistle 5 - 5 Easthall Star
24th January 2015 Easthall Star 4 - 4 Drumchapel Amateurs Colts
Easthall Star's record in the Scottish Amateur Football League:-
2013/14
Premier Division Two 5th
2012/13
Division 1B Champions (Promoted)
In Other News
Congratulation to Roy and Gillian McLuckie on the birth this week of their first child Louis George McLuckie. Hopefully the new arrival will follow in the footsteps of his father and late grandfather George in representing the mighty Oban Saints.
Louis George McLuckie
Roy McLuckie
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