Winning In The Rain: Into The Final

Saturday 13th May 2017
Scottish Amateur Football League Jimmy Marshall Trophy
Semi-final
Hillington AFC 1 - 4 Oban Saints AFC
Penilee Community Centre
10 Gleddoch Road
Glasgow
G52 4BD
Kick Off 2pm
Referee Mr Robert Doolan
Assistant Referee Mr Philip Hogg
Assistant Referee Mr Derek Milton

Saints starting line-up:-

Used substitutes:-

Martin Bonar

Dean Smith

Unused substitute:-

Alex Craik

Oban Saints reached their fourth Scottish Amateur Football League Jimmy Marshall Trophy final in five seasons with a 4 - 1 win at a rain soaked Penilee Community Centre last Saturday. After a fairly even goalless first half Saints turned up the heat on Premier Division One opponents Hillington with Craig MacEwan netting a hat-trick to take his tally for the season to thirty six. The victory gave Saints some small measure of revenge for the agonising 2013 final penalty shoot-out defeat at the hands of Hillington at Somervell Park, Cambuslang and guarantees the Saints faithful another cup final day out to look forward to.

Manager Alex Craik had the usual mixture of injuries, work and family commitments to contend with when selecting his squad for this vital cup tie. Added to the mix was Donald Campbell's one match suspension for his sending off in the Scottish Amateur Cup semi-final defeat against Colville Park.

Thomas McCulloch lined up in goal behind a back four of Jamie Graham, Captain Marc Maccallum, Dene Cassells and Scott Maitland. The midfield comprised Myles McAuley, Kerr Newbiggining and Matthew Kelly with a front three of Fraser MacFarlane, Paul Carmichael and Craig MacEwan completing the line-up. The Gaffer named himself on the bench with Martin Bonar and Dean Smith for company.

Hosts Hillington kicked off in heavy rain defending the Community Centre end where, after some early sparring, Saints forced the first corner kick of the match in the third minute. Marc Maccallum played the ball up to Fraser MacFarlane who in turn fed Jamie Graham. Jamie's overlapping run to the bye-line was halted by Lee Wales at the expense of a corner kick. Craig MacEwan rose through a ruck of players at the back post to head Fraser MacFarlane's delivery back across the face of goal with Scott Gold showing a good measure of composure to control the ball and volley clear just short of the goal line.

The action swung quickly to the other end when Kerr Newbigging was penalised for a foul just inside the Hillington half. Ross Hamilton sent his deep free kick towards the back post where Gary Wilson had found space but sent his header straight at Thomas McCulloch.

Matthew Kelly was enjoying his new midfield role and got on the end of a threaded pass from colleague Myles McAuley in the fifth minute. Matthew made a run into the box but was unable to get the ball out of his feet and a good chance was lost.

Hillington had already claimed two Premier Division scalps en-route to the Jimmy Marshall Trophy semi-finals and were matching up well against cup holders Saints. In the seventh minute Stuart Ashton got in behind Scott Maitland on the Hillington right and, from a tight angle, drew a smart save from Thomas McCulloch at his near post.

Thomas had the slightly easier task of gathering a long range effort from Ian McFadyen in the eighth minute which lacked the power to seriously test the Saints number one.

Another run forward from Matthew Kelly in the thirteenth minute was halted by a mistimed tackle from Scott Gold twenty eight yards from goal. With Willie Gemmell missing due to work commitments Kerr Newbigging assumed responsibility for the dead ball but sent his free-kick eighteen inches over Paul McGuire's crossbar.

Hillington had the ball in the net in the eighteenth minute when Gary Wilson stole in behind Dene Cassells from another deep Ross Hamilton free-kick but Assistant Referee Philip Hogg raised his flag for offside and Referee Robert Doolan disallowed the goal.

Five minutes later on the opposite touchline Mr Doolan's other Assistant Derek Milton raised his flag against Kerr Newbigging to deny Fraser MacFarlane a tap-in at the back post. Kerr went fractionally too early on the left to get on the end of a Craig MacEwan pass and was flagged offside before delivering an inviting ball across the face of goal which MacFarlane would surely have buried had play been allowed to continue.

The deep free-kick from central defender Ross Hamilton once again presented a problem for Saints with Ian McFadyen making a good run behind the Saints defence to glance a header on target which fortunately flew straight into the hands of Thomas McCulloch causing sharp intakes of breath on the sidelines.

The offside flag was up again in the twenty eighth minute this time against Paul Carmichael who was enjoying a fascinating physical battle with Ross Hamilton. Matthew Kelly battled well in the centre circle to win possession and laid off to Kerr Newbigging whose well weighted ball sent Paul racing through on goal but Mr Milton judged that Paul had started his run from an offside position.

Hamilton stopped Carmichael unfairly on the corner of the Hillington box two minutes later but redeemed himself to beat Paul in the air and head Kerr Newbigging's free-kick clear of the danger area.

A thirty fourth minute run along the Saints eighteen yard line from William Mitchell was well matched by Marc Maccallum allowing no way through for the Hillington midfielder with the Saints Skipper eventually making a decisive challenge to snuff out the danger.

As the half wore on Saints began to gain the upper hand in the vital midfield area but still struggled to get in behind the home defence thanks in no small part to a solid display from young centre half Stuart Aitken.

Saints tried a change of free-kick taker with Matthew Kelly taking over to allow Kerr Newbigging to add his aerial presence in the box. From a free-kick on the right won by Paul Carmichael, Matthew's delivery was charged down at the near post however Saints kept the pressure on through Scott Maitland and Craig MacEwan with Craig eventually winning another free-kick on the opposite flank. Matthew gained more height with his second delivery but unfortunately too much for intended target Paul Carmichael and the ball drifted behind for a goal kick.

Saints came within inches of opening the scoring just before the interval when Paul Carmichael held off a strong challenge from Nicholas Baird and burst through into the box only to be denied a goal by the outstretched left foot of Hillington keeper Paul McGuire which deflected the big Saints striker's net bound shot wide of target. Before the corner kick could be taken Mr Doolan took the name of Nicholas Baird for his challenge on Paul Carmichael. Fraser MacFarlane's delivery from the corner flag was headed behind for another corner by Baird who was guarding the back post. From the opposite flank Fraser put in another good delivery to the back post where Ross Hamilton once again emerged victorious from his aerial duel with Paul Carmichael before Mr Doolan blew the half-time whistle.

Saints had the benefit of the breeze for the second half which would steadily increase in strength as the half progressed. Much to the relief of the hardy band of spectators the rain also eased off for the start of the second half which Saints kicked off attacking the Park end.

The second half was only one minute old when Matthew Kelly had the first strike on goal which was deflected wide of Paul McGuire's right hand post for a corner kick. Having had little success with his first half deliveries into the box Fraser MacFarlane opted to roll the ball back to Myles McAuley whose shot from the corner of the eighteen yard box was palmed away and collected at the second attempt by the Hillington keeper.

Saints were already showing signs that they would go on to dominate almost the entire second half with Craig MacEwan skinning Lee Wales on the Saints right before sending a ball into the box which was tantalisingly out of reach for Fraser MacFarlane allowing Paul McGuire to thump clear.

Hillington lost the services of influential midfielder Scott Gold to an ankle injury after just four second half minutes. Gold was replaced in the middle of the park by Gary Wilson.

Kerr Newbigging's ball up the right wing for Paul Carmichael saw the Saints man turn Ross Hamilton and dig out a cross from the bye-line which just evaded Craig MacEwan at the near post and ended up in the grateful hands of Paul McGuire.

Newbigging sent Carmichael through again in the fifty third minute but a well timed sliding interception from Lee Wales took the ball off Paul's toe and through to the keeper.

Hillington's first meaningful second half foray into Saints territory earned a free-kick on the right which Thomas McCulloch palmed away launching a counter attack on the right which Stuart Aitken halted at the expense of a throw-in and foot injury for himself which required some treatment before he could continue.

Saints won another corner kick after fifty eight minutes when Craig MacEwan's shot was defelected wide of Paul McGuire's left hand post. Myles McAuley had space and time to take down Fraser MacFarlane's deep cross but his shot through a ruck of players was blocked on the six yard line.

On the hour mark Ross Hamilton picked up the second yellow card of the match when he felled Paul Carmichael wide on the right after a good turn from the Saints striker. From Matthew Kelly's delivery onto the six yard line Craig MacEwan somehow managed to direct a header towards goal despite having Nicholas Baird's arm across his throat. Marc Maccallum coming in behind bundled the ball over the line and wheeled away in celebration however his joy was short lived as Mr Hogg flagged for a hand-ball against the Saints Skipper. Worse was to follow for Marc when his protestations that the ball had come off his chest earned him a place in Referee Doolan's notebook.

A foot race up the right wing with Paul Carmichael for Stuart Aitken when the young defender managed to nick the ball out for a throw-in proved to be his last involvement. Paul took the throw quickly to Fraser MacFarlane whose low shot was well saved by Paul McGuire before Aitken signaled to the Hillington bench that he was unable to continue.

The Saints back four, assisted by the strengthening wind, remained comfortable and on a rare occasion when Stuart Ashton got the better of Scott Maitland on the Hillington right Marc Maccallum was quickly across to snuff out the danger.

Maccallum's central defensive partner Dene Cassells was instrumental in setting up Saints opening goal in the sixty seventh minute. Dene made a decisive interception on the half-way line and charged forward into the Hillington half playing the ball up to Paul Carmichael. With his back to goal Paul deftly flicked the ball on with the outside of his right foot to Craig MacEwan who wrong footed Paul McGuire and stroked the ball into the net to give Saints the lead.

Saints were back on the attack almost immediately from the restart with McGuire saving with his right foot to deny Fraser MacFarlane. From MacFarlane's corner kick from the left Paul Carmichael climbed above Ross Hamilton and Kyle Young and was a matter of inches over the crossbar with his header.

Controversy surrounded Saints second goal in the seventy fourth minute. A wind assisted goal kick from Thomas McCulloch was expertly brought down on the left by Craig MacEwan and curled high into the net past a rooted to the spot Paul McGuire. Saints celebrations of a wonderful goal from Craig were curtailed by an offside flag from Mr Hogg. However after a brief discussion with his Assistant Mr Doolan, who was clearly otherwise minded, pointed to the centre circle awarding the goal to Saints.

This was the cue for Saints Manager Alex Craik to make a double substitution replacing Matthew Kelly and Fraser MacFarlane with Martin Bonar and Dean Smith.

Further chances for Saints to put the result beyond any doubt came and went with Martin Bonar and Paul Carmichael both sending headers inches wide of target.

Both substitutes were heavily involved in Saints third goal. With Hillington pushing forward desperately looking for a way back into the game Saints broke forward with Dean Smith holding the ball up well and releasing Martin Bonar on the right wing. Martin's run was supported by Jamie Graham who popped up in the inside right channel taking the ball into the box and squaring to Craig MacEwan. Craig's low shot struck the inside of the post and bounced into the path of the luckless Christopher Flannery who tried to control the ball but only succeeded into turning it into the unguarded net.

To their credit Hillington kept plugging away and Saints were indebted to Thomas McCulloch for a fine save low down to his left to keep out a Kyle Young header in the eighty sixth minute.

A miserable afternoon for Christopher Flannery was rounded off with two minutes of normal time remaining. Paul Carmichael charged through the tiring Hillington defence once again and was scythed down twenty eight yards from goal by Flannery with Referee Doolan reaching to his back pocket and producing his red card.

The left of centre position of the free-kick would have been ideal for Willie Gemmell but in his absence Kerr Newbigging grabbed the ball. The instructions from the sidelines for Kerr to hand the ball to Craig MacEwan were baffling as nobody could remember Craig ever having taken a free-kick before however the decision proved to be an inspired one. Craig curled the ball around the wall and past the despairing left hand of Paul McGuire to seal his hat-trick with a delightful finish which would certainly have earned the mark of approval of dead ball expert Gemmell.

Some of the shine was taken off an excellent all round Saints performance when they conceded a last minute consolation goal after switching off at a hotly disputed throw-in. Hillington took full advantage of a fortuitous award quickly working the ball down the left and into the box for the unmarked Gordon Phillips. With the Saints defence appealing in vain for an offside flag second half substitute Phillips planted his header low inside Thomas McCulloch's left hand post denying Saints a long sought after clean sheet.

Referee Doolan brought proceedings to a close after three added minutes confirming Saints place in the final where their opponents will be either Easthall Star or Dunoon both also of Premier Division One.