Winning In The Rain: Dress Rehearsal

Friday 20th May 2016
Scottish Amateur Football League Premier Division
Oban Saints AFC 1 - 2 St Joseph's FP AFC
Glencruitten 2
Mossfield Avenue
Oban
Argyll
PA34 4EH
Kick Off 6.45pm
Referee Mr Jimmy Litster

Saints starting line-up:-

Thomas McCulloch

David McArthur
Jamie Graham
Craig Campbell
Dougal Graham

Keith Millar
Paul Kerr
Willie Gemmell

Dean Smith
Donald Campbell
Craig MacEwan

Used substitutes:-

Dene Cassells
Ross Maitland
Allan Mackay

Unused substitute:-

Alex Craik

Saints Goalscorer:-

Willie Gemmell

Saints and old foes St Joseph's FP staged a dress rehearsal for their impending Jimmy Marshall Trophy final showdown at a midgie infested Glencruitten last Friday night. If the old adage that a bad rehearsal equals a good performance then Saints can look forward to things being "alright on the night" at Millburn Park Alexandria next Friday as this was one of Saints worst performances of the season,. However if this saying is just a lot of superstitious nonsense Saints will have to raise their game considerably if they are to win a second Jimmy Marshall Trophy in three years.

Saints added Craig Campbell, Dougal Graham, Jamie Graham, Ross Maitland and Allan Mackay to the threadbare squad that had secured a draw away at Champions elect East Kilbride FC Amateurs on the previous Saturday. Still missing through injury injury were Martin Bonar, Myles McAuley and Marc Maccallum. Joining the missing list was Scott Maitland who is currently in Lithuainia with the Scottish Amateur Football Association squad. Scott's place at left back was taken by Dougal Graham with Jamie Graham and Craig Campbell also joining sole survivor David McArthur in the back four in front of Thomas McCulloch. Keith Millar, Paul Kerr and Willie Gemmell formed an experienced midfield with Dean Smith and Craig MacEwan flanking Donald Campbell in attack. Manager Alex Craik dropped himself and Dene Cassells to the bench where they were joined by Ross Maitland and Allan Mackay.

The visitors kicked off attacking the Mossfield end where, after a quiet opening spell, they enforced their shoot on sight policy for the first time in the fourth minute with skipper Colin Gailey firing over from the edge of the box after a good run and cross from Martin McGowan on the right wing. One minute later Thomas McCulloch made the first of a string of excellent saves getting down well to his left to stop a Michael McGowan shot after Colin Gailey had broken up a promising Saints move in the centre circle. Next to try his luck from distance was Gary Redpath who failed to trouble Thomas McCulloch with a twenty yard effort high over the crossbar. Saints normally crisp passing was non existent at this stage with cheaply conceded possession keeping them constantly on the back foot. Another misplaced pass from David McArthur allowed Blair Mulgrew to break clear on the left and shoot for the near post where Willie Gemmell made an important interception turning the ball behind for a corner kick. The procession towards the Saints goal continued in the fourteenth minute with Craig Cameron running off Craig MacEwan, sprinting up the right touchline and delivering a low cross along the six yard line for the sliding in Michael McGowan who was unable to escape the close attentions of Jamie Graham and failed to make a strong enough contact to test Thomas McCulloch. The busy evening for Thomas did however continue just sixty seconds later when Blair Mulgrew fired in another shot from the left which the big keeper held well at his near post. Mulgrew was at it again in the seventeenth minute when another slack Saints pass was intercepted by Colin Gailey who quickly fed Mulgrew with the wide man once again cutting in too easily from the left but this time shooting over the crossbar. It took Saints fully twenty minutes to muster their first attempt on goal when Craig MacEwan set up Dean Smith for a shot from the right hand side of the St Joe's box. Dean's right foot shot across the keeper was well held by Kevin Goodwin with Donald Campbell waiting to punish any handling error. Thomas McCulloch produced the pick of his bunch of first half saves in the twenty first minute to deny Michael McGowan from very close range. Saints best opportunity of the first half came in the twenty third minute when a defence splitting Donald Campbell pass was quickly latched onto by Craig MacEwan. A clear path to goal opened up for Craig however the ball seemed to stick under his feet on the eighteen yard line and he was closed down by Kearn Docherty and Kieran Boyce. Craig however retained possession and laid the ball back to Donald Campbell who lofted the ball to the back post where Paul Kerr had made a good run but was unable to generate enough power on his header to seriously test Kevin Goodwin. At this point Saints were enjoying by far their best spell of the match so far and produced another good move on the right involving Keith Millar and Donald Campbell who set up Dean Smith for a shot on target which Scott Dornan did well to block at the expense of a corner kick. Willie Gemmell's flag kick from the right was well defended by the visitors however the same could not be said at the other end of the park. Martin McGowan won a twenty eighth minute corner off Dougal Graham on the St Joe's right and took the kick himself sending a good delivery into the box. Scott Dornan lost his marker in the box and had the simplest of tasks with a free header to nod the ball into the net past the helpless Thomas McCulloch. Manager Alex Craik was clearly unhappy at the way things were going and made a swift tactical switch dropping Donald Campbell back to bolster the midfield which was being overrun by their St Joe's counterparts. The switch certainly helped steady the ship and set Saints up for good fifteen minute spell to close the first half. On the half hour mark the combined attentions of Craig Cameron and Colin Gailey brought Craig MacEwan to the ground thirty six yards from goal. Willie Gemmell sent an excellent delivery from the left towards the back post where David McArthur had made a good blindside run volleying straight at Kevin Goodwin who pulled off a terrific save to deny the Saints full back. McArthur was heavily involved again two minutes later making a good run on the right to get past Scott Dornan and send over a looping cross from two yards short of the bye-line. The cross caught out Kevin Goodwin who misjudged the flight of the ball getting underneath the cross but made enough contact to take the ball off the waiting Craig MacEwan's forehead, onto the top of his head and behind for a goal kick. In the thirty sixth minute Craig was pulled back by Craig Cameron giving Willie Gemmell another set-piece opportunity. From an almost identical position to his earlier delivery for David McArthur Willie again aimed for the far post but put fractionally too much weight on the cross which narrowly evaded the runs of Craig MacEwan and Craig Campbell. Despite Saints better showing the visitors remained a threat on the break and in the thirty seventh minute Blair Mulgrew almost jinked his way through on goal before being denied by a perfectly timed sliding challenge by Jamie Graham. Referee Jimmy Litster was the object of some heated words from the touchline when he harshly ruled what appeared to be a perfectly timed run by Craig MacEwan to get on a defence splitting pass from Donald Campbell to be offside. Craig ran on and stroked the ball into the net but all to no avail as the Lochgilphead whistler had already awarded a free kick in St Joe's favour. Saints ended the first half with another chance as Dean Smith broke into the St Joe's box on the left hand side but was forced wide by the combined efforts of Craig Cameron and Kieran Boyce. Dean escaped the attentions of the defenders and sent a cross along the six yard line looking for Craig MacEwan who was unfortunate to see Kearn Docherty cut out the cross and hoof the ball to safety.

The encouraging end to the first half should have been the catalyst for Saints to kick on in the second half alas all of the good work was undone in the first minute of the second forty five. Martin McGowan beat Dougal Graham of the St Joe's right and played a low ball into the box. Jamie Graham and Craig Campbell looked clear favourites to clear the danger however no clearance was forthcoming and Ryan Craig pounced on the loose ball dispatching it past a bemused Thomas McCulloch. Saints made the first of their three changes in the fiftieth minute with Dene Cassells replacing Jamie Graham in central defence. Thomas McCulloch continued his masterclass in the Saints goal with superb save to deny Gary Redpath. In an excellent move Redpath and Blair Mulgrew combined to open up the Saints defence unfortunately for the visitors McCulluch was in no mood to stand back and admire Redpath's footwork and threw up a strong left hand to deny the midfielder. Ross Maitland replaced Keith Millar in the fifty fifth minute in a straight swap on the right of midfield. Saints eventually sparked into life on the hour mark with Ross Maitland making a good run up the right wing winning a throw-in level with the six yard line. Willie Gemmell wound up one of his long throws which found the head of Craig MacEwan whose flick on unfortunately found no takers in navy blue and was cleared by the St Joe's defence. Ross switched briefly to the left wing and won a free kick when he was pulled back by Craig Cameron. Ross played the free kick quickly to Willie Gemmell hoping to catch the St Joe's defence off guard. Willie's flat delivery into the box bounced agonisingly over the outstretched right leg of Dean Smith and was forced behind for a corner. Before play could restart Alex Craik made his final change bringing on Allan Mackay to replace Dean Smith in attack. Ross Maitland came across to the right wing to take the corner kick which Craig Campbell climbed well to head down to Dene Cassells who stabbed in a shot from close range but hit it straight at Kevin Goodwin. Saints were handed a one man advantage for the closing twenty minutes when Scott Dornan saw red for a bad tackle from behind on Craig MacEwan. Tempers were inflamed briefly but Mr Litster was quick to restore order before giving Dornan his marching orders. The extra numbers helped Saints dominate possession in the closing stages however chances were few and far between with the St Joe's rearguard standing firm. Craig MacEwan did manage to prise open the visitor's defence in the eightieth minute with some good work on the right. Craig slipped the ball into the box for Allan Mackay who, from a tight angle, took aim for the near post when a sideways pass to Donald Campbell looked a better option. Mackay's shot was well struck and on target but Kevin Goodwin stood up well to parry the ball behind for a corner kick. Saints eventually pulled one back with just five minutes remaining after a good run up the left wing from Dougal Graham was halted by a tug of the shirt from Craig Cameron. Willie Gemmell bent his free kick from level with the eighteen yard line around the St Joe's wall, through the "corridor of uncertainty" in front of the goalkeeper and into the bottom corner of the net. After riding their luck for long periods of the match the stage now looked set for Saints to grab an unlikely point however the anticipated grandstand finish failed to materialise and it was the visitors who came closest to adding to the scoring. Gary Redpath was allowed to run unchallenged at the heart of the Saints defence and brought out the last of Thomas McCulloch's saves in a tremendous performance from the big keeper. Referee Litster brought the match to end without further incident almost certainly confirming Saints lowest league finish for seven seasons.