Winning In The Rain: Let There Be Light

Saturday 22nd October 2016
The Alona Hotel West of Scotland Amateur Cup
Second Round Tie
Petershall Villa AFC 0 - 8 Oban Saints AFC
St Ambrose High School 4G
65 Townhead Road
Coatbridge
ML5 2HT
Kick off 11.00am
Referee Mr Stephen Fox

Four goals in each half saw Saints ease comfortably into round three of the West of Scotland Amateur Cup at St Ambrose High School, Coatbridge last Saturday morning. The 11am kick off, due to pitch availability issues, aught to have suited hosts Petershall Villa of the Strathclyde Saturday Morning Amateur Football League however it was the early risers from Argyll who prevailed. The Villains from Airdrie held out bravely for twenty six minutes however once Saints eventually made the breakthrough the result was never in any doubt.

Manager Alex Craik's selection options, already restricted by holidays, injuries and work commitments, were dealt a further blow when illness and injury respectively forced Jamie Graham and Dougal Graham to withdraw form the travelling party shortly before the minibus departure time of 7.00 am. With no time to call up any reinforcements the bus departed with twelve players plus the Gaffer who would join Fraser MacFarlane on the bench. The starting eleven saw three changes from the last outing against Ferguslie Star with David McArthur and Dene Cassells dropping out of the back four to be replaced by Matthew Kelly and Craig Campbell who lined up alongside Skipper Marc Maccallum and Scott Maitland. Up front Brian Mackay made his first start of the season in place of the unavailable Dean Smith where he joined Paul Carmichael and Craig MacEwan. The midfield had an all together more settled look with Myles McAuley, Paul Kerr and Willie Gemmell starting their sixth consecutive match together in the Saints engine room.

Saints kicked off attacking the school end and quickly announced their attacking intent with Paul Kerr firing in a second minute twenty two yard drive which Villa keeper Scott Black fumbled onto his right hand post before recovering in time to smother the rebound at the feet of Brian Mackay. The hosts looked content to defend in depth and hit on the break launching their first counter attack in the fifth minute with a ball in behind Craig Campbell which Marc Maccallum was forced to turn behind for a corner kick. Villa left back Alexander Cane's in-swinger from the right was headed well clear of the danger area by Craig Campbell. This signalled the start of a better spell for Villa as they briefly gained the upper hand in the middle of the park. An incisive pass form Andrew Buchanan in the eighth minute sent Martin Chisolm scampering up the left wing but the Villa wide man couldn't outpace Saints youngster Matthew Kelly who showed good strength to shepherd the ball out for a goal kick. Saints soon regained the initiative and created a flurry of chances keeping the hosts pinned back in their own half. Paul Carmichael snatched a shot wide of target after some good link up play on the left from Craig MacEwan and Brian Mackay. Two minutes later Carmichael flicked on a Willie Gemmell throw-in from the right which MacEwan was inches away from connecting with inside the six yard box. Saints kept up the pressure with Matthew Kelly making a terrific run up the right wing and sending an inviting delivery across the face of goal but unfortunately out of reach of the chasing pack of Paul Carmichael, Craig MacEwan and Brian Mackay. Kelly's overlaps on the right continued to cause problems for the Villa defence with a fourteenth minute run forcing a corner which the Saints right back took himself picking out Craig MacEwan at the near post for a chance from which Scott Black made a good save. MacEwan was foiled again just sixty seconds later when his sixteen yard shot from a Paul Kerr left wing cross was blocked behind for a corner kick. A sixteenth minute foul against Marc Maccallum for holding John Bruce twelve yards inside the Saints half gave the beleaguered Villa defence some respite however Daniel Rankin's effort from the resulting free kick was easily saved by Thomas McCulloch. Kelly's industry on the right forced another corner kick which Marc Maccallum, piling in at the back post, was inches away from connecting with. Saints dead ball expert Willie Gemmell had an opportunity to test Scott Black after he had been brought down twenty two yards from goal and slightly right of centre. Willie's free kick up and over the four man Villa wall should have been a straight forward catch for Black but the Villa keeper fumbled and was relieved to gather at the second attempt as Craig MacEwan, Paul Carmichael and Myles McAuley all converged on the loose ball. McAuley's afternoon came to a premature end when he went over on his left ankle on the edge of the Villa box in the twenty fifth minute. Mindful of the initially innocuous looking ankle injury picked up by Myles in the Mod Cup last October which ultimately resulted in a four month spell on the sidelines Manager Alex Craik decided to withdraw Myles immediately replacing him with Fraser MacFarlane. The youngster made an almost instant impact from wide on the right after Scott Black had produced an excellent save diving to his left to deny Paul Carmichael at the expense of a corner kick. MacFarlane's corner kick from the right had the Villa keeper under pressure once again with an unconvincing punched clearance landing at the feet of Craig MacEwan who turned the ball back out wide to MacFarlane. The wee man's second delivery was met by Willie Gemmell with a spectacular shoulder height volley into the top corner from eight yards to open the scoring. With the deadlock broken Saints set about increasing their advantage but were denied in the twenty eighth minute when Scott Black saved well from a Paul Carmichael header after another Fraser MacFarlane corner kick from the right. Saints second goal came after the sides exchanged counter attacks just after the half hour mark. Villa broke quickly on the right with Jamie Nicholson catching Scott Maitland too far up field and beating Craig Campbell for pace. Nicholson's cross into the box was cut out by Marc Maccallum who had a heart in mouth moment as his header crashed off his own crossbar and dropped into the grateful arms of Thomas McCulloch. The Saints number one immediately launched an attack on the right with Matthew Kelly and Paul Carmichael combining for Paul to pick out Craig MacEwan at the back post who made no mistake from the corner of the six yard box. Saints made it three in the thirty fourth minute with MacEwan this time the provider cutting in from the left to find the head of Brian Mackay on the six yard line who accepted with pleasure the chance to open his goal scoring account for the season. Despite their three goal advantage Saints certainly weren't having things their own way with the hosts now more adventurous approach giving them a few testing moments at the back. A John Cochrane foul on Matthew Kelly just inside the Saints half gave Saints the platform to spring another attack on the right with Willie Gemmell threading a perfectly weighted pass to Matthew Kelly who raced to the bye-line and sent a cross to the back post where Paul Carmichael climbed above the Villa defence to head Saints into a four goal half time lead.

Villa made a change for the start of the second half with David Rooney replacing Scott Black between the posts. The replacement keeper was under immediate pressure from a Fraser MacFarlane corner kick and was happy to see Daniel Rankin beat Craig Campbell in the air to head away the danger. In the forty seventh minute Craig MacEwan and Willie Gemmell linked up well for Willie to send a left foot lob from ten yards over Rooney's head and inches over the crossbar with the keeper rooted to the spot. The Villa goal survived another close shave in the fiftieth minute when Rooney allowed a throw-in from Ross Lowe to bounce under his feet before recovering enough ground to knock the ball onto the shins of Paul Carmichael and behind for a goal kick. Rooney's hopes of keeping a clean sheet were dashed after just seven second half minutes when Craig MacEwan timed his run to beat Villa's offside trap and meet a terrific pass through the inside left channel from Willie Gemmell. Craig gathered the ball on his left foot just inside the Villa box and calmly passed the ball right footed into the bottom corner past David Rooney's despairing left hand. MacEwan completed his hat-trick nine minutes later after good running from Fraser MacFarlane had opened up space on the left of the Villa box for Brian Mackay. Brian hit the bye-line and cut back for Craig who beat John Cochrane and Mark Russell at the near post to knock the ball past David Rooney. There was no let-up for the Villa defence as Saints kept coming forward and Paul Carmichael was inches away from getting on the end of a Brian Mackay cross after he and Fraser MacFarlane had created another good opening on the right. MacFarlane was denied in the sixty fifth minute by a fine Rooney save after another Matthew Kelly overlap on the right. The Villa substitute keeper threw himself to his left to finger tip MacFarlane's effort round the post for a corner kick. MacFarlane took the corner kick himself and placed the ball onto the head of Paul Carmichael who timed his leap at the back post to perfection to notch his second and Saints seventh goal of the contest. Full credit must go to Villa who never once let their heads drop and kept plugging away in search of a consolation goal. Villa had only once previously failed to score this season and Saints had Thomas McCulloch to thank for two excellent saves to keep their clean sheet intact. Once again Saints ended a better spell for the hosts with a sucker punch. A sweeping move in the seventy second minute was rounded off with a deserved goal for Fraser MacFarlane who worked a one-two with Craig MacEwan and cut in from the left past Evan Jones to steer the ball into the bottom corner past David Rooney's left hand. Before the restart Saints made their second and final substitution with Alex Craik coming on to replace Brian Mackay. Alex took up his accustomed place at the back with Craig Campbell moving forward into midfield. A good turn and spin in behind a high Villa back line from Paul Carmichael carved out another decent chance for Saints in the seventy sixth minute however Paul's cross from the left was fractionally too high for Craig MacEwan in the middle. Skipper Marc Maccallum fancied his chances of making a rare appearance on the score sheet but was high and wide with a speculative long range effort in the seventy ninth minute. Martin Chisolm returned the compliment three minutes later after Maccallum had been penalised on the edge of his own box sending his free kick well off target. Willie Gemmell made an attempt for goal of the season, in fact goal of any season, when he returned a David Rooney kick from hand on the volley from inside the centre circle only to see his audacious effort veer off target. With the clock ticking down towards the final whistle Saints had one final chance to add to the scoring when Craig Campbell made a good run from midfield to join the attack and was inches away from connecting with a good Fraser MacFarlane cross from the left. Referee Stephen Fox, whose task was made easy by both sets of players, brought a sporting contest to a close with Saints going into the hat for the third round draw. Manager Alex Craik can feel well pleased with an excellent all round performance and, in particular, a much needed clean sheet ahead of this Saturday's league clash with reigning Scottish Amateur Football League Premier Division Champions East Kilbride FC Amateurs.