Winning In The Rain: Ripping Yarn

Saturday 28th March 2015
Scottish Amateur Football League Premier Division
Kings Park Rangers AFC v Oban Saints AFC
Glasgow Green Football Centre
28 Kings Drive
Glasgow
G40 1HB
Kick off 2pm
Referee Mr Stuart Cormack

Last Weekend's Fixture

Saints eased into the quarter finals of the Scottish Amateur Football League Jimmy Marshall Trophy with an emphatic 8 - 1 win over Premier Division One strugglers Jamestown last Saturday. In marked contrast to Saints last outing two weeks ago the game was played in perfect weather conditions on the 3G pitch at Oban High School where the large crowd were royally entertained by some excellent football from the home side. Manager Iain Jackson gave a rare start in goal to Thomas McCulloch but, with that exception, kept the same starting eleven from the previous league victory over Haldane United.
Saints started brightly with Lewis Cameron looking in the mood on the right wing. In the third minute Lewis made a jinking run into the box and sent a tantalising cut back across goal which fell agonisingly behind strikers Ally McKerracher and Allan Mackay. One minute later Donald Campbell, looking extremely comfortable in central midfield alongside the equally impressive Myles McAuley and Paul Kerr, picked out the first of many defence splitting passes to set Allan Mackay through on goal. Allan calmly slotted the ball into the bottom corner of the net unfortunately Referee John Stobo, taking charge of his first Saints game, ruled Allan to be offside much to the frustration of the Saints striker who was convinced he had timed his run well. Saints were stunned in the eleventh minute when Jamestown took the lead with their first attempt on goal. A long ball through the inside right channel caught the Saints back line of Jamie Graham, Marc MacCallum and Dougal Graham square allowing Nikky McGeachy a clear run on goal. The Jamestown man rounded keeper Thomas McCulloch who wisely elected not foul him before rolling the ball into the empty net.
Saints put this early setback behind them and continued to create chances. In the 12th minute Lewis Cameron advanced up the right wing sending over another inviting cross which the normally deadly Craig MacEwan couldn't head on target. Saints were enjoying considerable success on the right with Jamie Graham pushing out from defence to join the attack. In the 16th minute Jamie combined well with Lewis Cameron to send in a stinging shot which Jamestown goal keeper Craig Dillon could only parry wide. From the resulting throw in Allan Mackay curled a left foot shot from the edge of the box narrowly over the crossbar. Jamestown started to come into the game a bit more and had a decent ten minute spell where they kept Saints in check and tried to launch some attacks of their own. The Saints defence coped well with this and Thomas McCulloch in goal remained relatively untroubled. Saints started to turn the screws again and won a corner on the left after twenty eight minutes. Ally McKerracher's corner kick was headed clear but only as far as Paul Kerr on the edge of the box. The ball fell quickly at Paul's feet and with the Jamestown defence bearing down on him his hurried shot went comfortably over the cross bar. Saints eventually drew level on the half hour mark when Ally McKerracher cut across the edge of the box and fired off a terrific left foot shot from the edge of the D which beat the keeper low down to his left. Donald Campbell was now beginning to find his range and his 34th minute ball over the top picked out Allan Mackay who cleverly lobbed the ball over the advancing keeper to give Saints a deserved lead. Two minutes later the pair combined again only for the referee to give the benefit of another very tight offside decision to the visitors. In the 37th minute Jamestown had another brief foray in the Saints half and danger man Nikky McGeachy brought out a smart save from Thomas McCulloch low down to his right. Saints were finishing the half well and in the 42nd minute Donald Campbell and Allan Mackay linked up again to create a scoring chance for the midfielder. Donald played the ball up to Allan who held the ball up in typical style before giving the return pass to Donald on the edge of the box who unfortunately scuffed his shot somewhat giving the goalkeeper a comfortable save. Saints stretched their advantage in the 43rd minute when Jamie Graham and Lewis Cameron combined well on the right wing to set up Allan Mackay for a cool right foot finish to give the home side a deserved 3 - 1 half time lead.
Manager Iain Jackson shuffled the pack slightly for the second half with Lewis Cameron joining Allan Mackay in attack and Ally McKerracher dropping into the wide right midfield berth vacated by Lewis. Saints came flying out of the traps at the start of the second half with a rampaging run from Myles McAuley leaving a string of Jamestown players in his wake. Regrettably for Myles an attempted one-two with Donald Campbell on the edge of the box narrowly failed to come off and the chance was lost. In the 48th minute Myles again joined the attack getting on the end of a Lewis Cameron cut back from the left to send in a shot which was blocked by the Jamestown defence. Allan Mackay should have added to the Saints tally in the 51st minute but he shot the wrong side of the post from twelve yards out after good work on the left wing from Craig MacEwan and Lewis Cameron. In the 58th minute Allan had another chance to complete his hat-trick when Lewis Cameron's well placed pass sent him through one-on-one with the goalkeeper. Allan rounded the advancing Craig Dillon but took the ball too wide and the chance was gone. Just one minute later the roles were reversed with Allan picking out Lewis who made no mistake with a crisp left foot finish from sixteen yards out. That proved to be Allan's last involvement as he was withdrawn by Iain Jackson and replaced in attack by Dean Smith. Dean's impact was instant and he was desperately unlucky to see his well struck shot from yet another Donald Campbell through ball saved by the Jamestown keeper. In the 65th minute Jamie Graham thundered in a magnificent right foot shot from the corner of the box which flew past the goalkeeper into the postage stamp corner for a rare but spectacular goal for the Saints defender. David McArthur then joined the action replacing Paul Kerr who had given another assured performance in the midfield holding role. Donald Campbell continued to pick the passes from midfield and in the 69th minute threaded a perfectly weighted pass through to Lewis Cameron who made stroked the ball past the keeper for his second and Saints sixth goal. Before the re-start veteran defender Alex Craik came on to replace Captain Marc MacCallum taking up both Marc's central defensive role and the Captain's armband. Alex seemed to take the instruction to replace Marc too literally making a MacCallum style lung busting run from the back to join in a flowing move involving Myles McAuley and Lewis Cameron. Unfortunately the move broke down on the edge of the Jamestown box and Iain Jackson kindly phoned a taxi to take Alex back to his own half. With fifteen minutes remaining Jackson made his final changes replacing wide men Ally McKerracher and Craig MacEwan with Martin Bonar and Scott Maitland. In the 76th minute made a strong run from midfield and was bearing down on goal before being unceremoniously stopped in his tracks six yards outside the Jamestown box. Lewis Cameron, in search of his hat-trick, sent the resulting free kick high and wide of target. Saints were running the beleaguered Jamestown defence ragged and in the 80th minute tormentor in chief Donald Campbell picked out another good run from Dean Smith whose fine left foot strike brought out an excellent save from Craig Dillon in the Jamestown goal. Five minutes later the unlucky Dean was foiled again but this time the keeper failed to hold Dean's shot and the ball broke loose to Lewis Cameron who converted the rebound to complete his hat-trick. The scoring was completed in stoppage time with Dean Smith driving into the box and cutting the ball along the six yard line presenting Donald Campbell with a simple tap-in to round off his excellent performance with a well deserved goal.
All in all a good day at the office for Saints who, but for some wayward finishing and good goal keeping, could easily have hit double figures. All credit to Jamestown who never let their heads drop and played the game in a sporting manner throughout. Saints reward for this second round victory is a home quarter finals clash against Premier Division title rivals Haldane United.

Thomas McCulloch makes a comfortable catch from a Jamestown corner

Ally McKerracher brings Saints level

Myles McAuley picks out Allan Mackay

Ally McKerracher has his progressed halted

Ally McKerracher wins a midfield aerial dual

Jamie Graham's stunning strike makes it 5 - 1 to Saints

Lewis Cameron gets on the end of Donald Campbell's pass to make it 6 - 1 to Saints

Dean Smith picks out Donald Campbell to round off the scoring at 8 - 1 to Saints

This Saturday Saints will make their second visit of the season to Glasgow Green where they will hope to fare considerably better than last November's 4 - 1 defeat at the hands of Finnart. Saturday's opponents are old rivals Kings Park Rangers who currently prop up the Scottish Amateur Football League Premier Division with seven points from their thirteen matches so far. After a seven year absence from the Premier Division KPR opened their league campaign with a 2 - 1 defeat against reigning champions Saints at Glencruitten on 23rd August. The Croftfoot men picked up four points from the following three fixtures but this early promise soon disappeared as they embarked on a run of eight straight defeats to leave them facing an uphill struggle to remain in the top division. KPR did however win on their last league outing at Campbeltown Pupils, which is never an easy place to visit, and last weekend they were unlucky to go out of the Jimmy Marshall Trophy on penalty kicks against Eaglesham following a 0 - 0 draw at the Burnside. The return of KPR to the top flight sees the resumption of one of the Scottish Amateur Football League's oldest remaining rivalries with the two sides having almost ninety years of SAFL membership between them. Since first meeting in the Scottish Amateur Cup 40 years ago the paths of Saints and KPR have crossed on numerous occasions up and down the league with many enduring friendships being made along the way. Saints can expect a tough afternoon against KPR as they look to extend their current four match unbeaten run and stay in contact with league leaders Finnart and fellow title rivals Haldane United, Thorn Athletic and St Joseph's FP. With the exception of the in-form Jamie Graham Manager Iain Jackson has a full squad available which is further boosted by the return of Ross Maitland after an eight week absence.

Kings Park Rangers league record so far this season:-

23rd August 2014 Oban Saints 2 - 1 Kings Park Rangers
30th August 2014 Alba Thistle 1 - 1 Kings Park Rangers
13th September 2014 Kings Park Rangers 0 - 2 Thorn Athletic
4th October 2014 Kings Park Rangers 2 - 1 Busby
11th October 2014 Kings Park Rangers 0 - 3 Campbeltown Pupils
1st November 2014 Finnart 4 - 0 Kings Park Rangers
15th November 2014 Eaglesham 4 - 3 Kings Park Rangers
29th November 2014 Kings Park Rangers 1 - 3 Haldane United
6th December 2014 Busby 2 - 1 Kings Park Rangers
13th December 2014 Thorn Athletic 3 - 2 Kings Park Rangers
7th February 2015 Haldane United 5 - 2 Kings Park Rangers
28th February 2015 Kings Park Rangers 0 - 2 Finnart
14th March 2015 Campbeltown Pupils 0 - 1 Kings Park Rangers

The Kings Park Rangers squad celebrating last season's 2 - 1 victory at Kintyre Park over Champions Campbeltown Pupils which finally sealed their promotion back to the Premier Division

Kings Park Rangers recent SAFL record:-

2013-14 Premier Division One 2nd (Promoted)
2012-13 Premier Division One 7th
2011-12 Premier Division 10th (Relegated)
2010-11 Premier Division One 3rd (Promoted)
2009-10 Premier Division One 4th
2008-09 Premier Division One 7th
2007-08 Premier Division 10th (Relegated)
2006-07 Premier Division 5th

Saints recent record against Kings Park Rangers:-

2014-15
23rd August 2015 Oban Saints 2 - 1 Kings Park Rangers

2011-12
19th May 2012 Oban Saints 3 - 1 Kings Park Rangers
17th September 2011 Kings Park Rangers 0 - 5 Oban Saints

2007-08
24th May 2008 Kings Park Rangers 1 - 3 Oban Saints
25th August 2007 Oban Saints 3 - 1 Kings Park Rangers

2006-07
28th April 2007 Oban Saints 0 - 1 Kings Park Rangers
23rd September 2006 Kings Park Rangers 3 - 3 Oban Saints