Stuck In The Middle

Stuck In The Middle - Stealers Wheel

Saturday 26th March 2016
Scottish Amateur Football League Premier Division
Oban Saints AFC v St Joseph's FP AFC
Glencruitten 2, Mossfield Avenue, Oban, Argyll PA34 4EH
Kick Off 2pm
Referee Mr John Scott

Last Time Out

Saints survived a second half onslaught from a very impressive Shortlees Amateurs side at Glencruitten last Saturday afternoon to book their first ever Scottish Amateur Cup semi-final slot. The home side had the better of the first half with Shortlees keeper Garry Murdoch pulling off excellent saves to deny Donald Campbell and Ross Maitland. Dean Smith also came agonisingly close to opening the scoring scooping a difficult chance over the crossbar from inside the six yard box. The deadlock was eventually broken seven minutes before the half time interval by dead ball expert Willie Gemmell. Craig MacEwan won a free kick twenty two yards out and slightly left of centre, perfect territory for Willie's deadly right foot. Willie certainly didn't disappoint and curled the ball round the Shortlees wall and into the net past a rooted to the spot Garry Murdoch.

Shortlees carried far more threat in the second half and the pressure from the visitors eventually told in the sixty ninth minute. Lees danger man Keir Knapp made a strong run into the Saints box where he was upended by a mistimed tackle from second half substitute Myles McAuley. Knapp took the kick himself which he squeezed under the dive of Thomas McCulloch who guessed correctly but just couldn't get down quick enough to prevent Knapp's effort hitting the back of the net. The visitors were in the ascendency at this point and, urged on by their boisterous supporters, looked the more likely to net a crucial second goal. However it was Saints who succeeded in the respect with just two minutes of the ninety remaining. A tremendous jinking run from Donald Campbell tore open the Lees defence before rolling the ball to substitute Allan Mackay to calmly side foot the ball past Murdoch's left hand and into the bottom corner of the net. Just one minute later Myles McAuley had a tremendous opportunity to put the tie beyond any doubt but couldn't get the ball out of his feet when picked out at the back post after a good run and cross by Craig MacEwan. Referee Gallacher played five minutes of stoppage time but the Saints defence remained firm to secure a narrow but deserved 2 - 1 win.

Saints will now face Leven United of the Kingdom Caledonian Amateur Football Association in a semi final tie to be played at New Douglas Park home of Saints good friends Hamilton Academical on Thursday 31st March.

Stuck In The Middle

The big games keep on coming for Saints and just five days before their Scottish Amateur Cup semi-final tie at New Douglas Park is yet another crucial fixture when old rival St Joseph's FP come calling on league business. On their last visit to Glencruitten on 22nd November 2014 St. Joe's produced a scintillating performance to inflict Saints heaviest home defeat in many a long year. Despite going into the half-time interval on level terms with a goal a-piece Saints struggled to contain their visitors from Duntocher and were blown away in the second half. David Gallagher, John Paul Seagrave and Blair Mulgrew were all on target for St Joe's before Ryan Holms added to his first half strike to complete a miserable day for the home side whose only consolation came in the shape of Craig MacEwan's second half goal to add to Donald Campbell's ninth minute opener. St. Joe's also prevailed in the last two fixtures between the clubs winning last May's Jimmy Marshall Trophy semi-final at Millburn Park, Alexandria 2 - 0 with first half goals from Gary Redpath and Thomas Wilson; and this season's keenly contested September league encounter at William Street, Duntocher 1 - 0 thanks to a looping Ryan Craig shot just before half-time. Saints will take succour from a much improved performance on the day against the reigning champions which was the catalyst for a fifteen match unbeaten run ended only by defeat in the West of Scotland Amateur Cup to Colville Park on 13th February.

The reigning Scottish Amateur Football League Premier Division Champions and Jimmy Marshall Trophy holders made a blistering start to the defence of their league title winning five matches on the bounce to open up a considerable gap at the top of the table. However heavy defeats at the hands of East Kilbride FC Amateurs, Finnart and most recently Alba Thistle have seen that lead eroded considerably with the gap to second placed Goldenhill now just one point. Saints meanwhile lie four points behind St Joe's in fourth place but with a game in hand over their old foes. A win for Saints on Saturday will therefore thrust them right back into contention for a second league title in three seasons.

St Joe's made a convincing start to their defence of the Jimmy Marshall Trophy with an emphatic 11 - 0 home win against Premier Division Two side Tarbert. They are also already through to the Centenary Cup semi-finals where they will face Goldenhill for a place in the final against Premier Division One promotion hopefuls Ferguslie Star. St Joe's only regret of a positive season so far will be their failure to improve upon last season's excellent showing in the Scottish Amateur Cup which took them to the seventh round and a narrow exit at the hands of eventual competition runners up Craigshill Thistle.

Team News

Manager Alex Craik could be forgiven for having his thoughts fixed entirely on next Thursday's Scottish Amateur Cup semi-final however the significance of Saturday's clash with St Joseph's cannot be underestimated. It may be only the first game of the second half of the league season but with ten points already dropped there is now little margin for error if Saints are to regain the Premier Division trophy from St Joseph's. Also still very much in contention for league title success in their first Premier Division season are East Kilbride FC Amateurs and Goldenhill who, like Saints, have had their attentions taken away from league business by good runs in the national cup competitions. Goldenhill are already through to the semi-finals of the West of Scotland Amateur Cup where they will face either Drumchapel Amateurs or Colville Park. East Kilbride FC Amateurs are also still going strong in the West of Scotland Cup and have a sixth round tie against St Mungo's this Saturday for the right to play Shortlees in the quarter-finals. The winner of this season's Premier Division title looks set to come from those four however last weekend's 3 - 0 defeat for St Joseph's against Alba Thistle demonstrates that every team in the league is capable of producing the goods on their day which makes for a compelling title run-in.        

The Saints Gaffer will want to give each of his squad as much game time as possible ahead of Thursday's Scottish Amateur Cup semi-final and therefore faces some challenging selection dilemmas as he bids to maintain his side's interest on three trophy fronts. Martin Bonar remains sidelined through injury while Dene Cassells serves the second of his six match suspension. With those two exceptions the Gaffer should have a full squad at his disposal.

St Joseph's FP AFC SAFL Premier Division fixtures so far this season:-

22nd August 2015 Shawlands FP 2 - 6 St Joseph's FP
5th September 2015 St Joseph's FP 1 - 0 Oban Saints
12th September 2015 Campbeltown Pupils 0 - 5 St Joseph's FP

19th September 2015 St Joseph's FP 2 - 1 Finnart
24th October 2015 East Kilbride Rolls Royce 1 - 3 St Joseph's FP
28th November 2015 East Kilbride FC Amateurs 6 - 0 St Joseph's FP
12th December 2015 St Joseph's FP 2 - 1 East Kilbride Rolls Royce
6th February 2016 St Joseph's FP 3 - 0 Alba Thistle
13th February 2016 Finnart 3 - 1 St Joseph's FP
19th March 2016 Alba Thistle 3 - 0 St Joseph's FP

St Joseph's SAFL Centenary Cup exploits this season:-

1st Round 15th August 2015 St Joseph's FP 4 - 0 Motherwell Thistle

2nd Round 29th August 2015 St Joseph's FP 3  - 0 Inverclyde
3rd Round 5th March 2016 St Joseph's FP 5 - 2 East Kilbride FC Amateurs

St Joseph's SAFL Jimmy Marshall Trophy exploits this season:-

1st Round Bye
2nd Round 27th February 2016 St Joseph's FP 11 - 0 Tarbert


St Joseph's West of Scotland Amateur Cup exploits this season:-

1st Round Bye
2nd Round 17th October 2015 St Joseph's FP 2 - 1 Glentynan Thistle
3rd Round 21st November 2015 Kilsyth 2 - 1 St Joseph's FP


St Joseph's Scottish Amateur Cup exploits this season:-

1st Round Bye
2nd Round 3rd October 2015 St Joseph's FP 7 - 2 Rannoch
3rd Round 31st October 2015 St Joseph's FP 3 - 1 Cumbernauld Colts
4th Round 5th December 2015 Albion 4 - 2 St Joseph's FP

St Joseph's FP AFC recent Scottish Amateur Football League finishes:-

2006/07 Premier Division One 4th

2007/08 Premier Division One 2nd Promoted

2008/09 Premier Division Champions

2009/10 Premier Division 6th and Centenary Cup Winners

2010/11 Premier Division 6th

2011/12 Premier Division 6th

2012/13 Premier Division 5th

2013/14 Premier Division 3rd and Centenary Cup Runners Up

2014/15 Premier Division Champions and Jimmy Marshall Trophy Winners

The St Joseph's FP player celebrate winning the 2014-15 SAFL Jimmy Marshall Trophy

Saints home record against St Joseph's FP:-

2008/09 Premier Division Oban Saints 2 - 3 St Joseph's FP

2009/10 Premier Division Oban Saints 2 - 0 St Joseph's FP

2010/11 Premier Division Oban Saints 8 - 1 St Joseph's FP

2011/12 Premier Division Oban Saints 3- 1 St Joseph's FP

2012/13 Premier Division Oban Saints 0 - 1 St Joseph's FP

2013/14 Premier Division Oban Saints 1 - 1 St Joseph's FP
2014/15 Premier Division Oban Saints 2 - 5 St Joseph's FP

Action from some past Saints v St Joe's encounters at Glencruitten

Marc Maccallum and Donald Campbell 17th March 2012

Willie Gemmell's indirect free kick hits the St Joseph's wall 17th March 2012

Allan Mackay and Craig Cameron 14th September 2103

In Other News

The draws for the quarter and semi-finals of the Scottish Amateur Football League Jimmy Marshall Trophy were made recently. The winners of Saints third round tie away at Premier Division Two FC Clydebank will have an away quarter final tie against either Kings Park Rangers or Hillington. Whichever of those four that comes out on top will face either Alba Thistle or Motherwell Thistle in the semi-finals the date and venue for which has yet to be announced.

#monthesaints