Winning In The Rain: D&K Cup 2017 Preview

The 24th annual Oban Saints preseason tournament takes place this Saturday at Mossfield Stadium and Oban Lorne Rugby Club where once again the enduring popularity of the event is exhibited in the top class participants the tournament continues to attract. Three of this years visitors are regular attenders and boast nine tournament wins between them. The inclusion of debutants South Lochaber will come as a surprise to many, however grateful thanks are due to Manager Alan Gray and his men for stepping in at the eleventh hour to replace Berwick Rangers who withdrew at extremely short notice. The tournament debut of the Borderers should have seen the event return to it's usual six team format however with four time winners Heart of Midlothian also unable to attend the tournament once again goes ahead with five teams. The round robin tournament format remains the same with each match lasting forty minutes.

Despite the competition being principally designed to aid in the building of pre-season fitness it is keenly contested and victory is greeted with as much celebration as any other trophy win. The tournament has been blessed with some excellent weather over the years and, although Oban is unlikely to be bathed in hot sunshine, Saturday's forecast looks favourable. Whatever the weather the anticipated large crowd is sure to be entertained to a feast of quality football.

Saints are delighted that shirt sponsor D&K Lafferty Contractors have agreed to sponsor the club's flagship event for the fifth consecutive year. D&K Lafferty are fantastic supporters of local sport and everybody connected with Oban Saints is pleased to see them rewarded with the wide exposure that sponsorship of this prestigious tournament can offer.

Kick off 11am

Mossfield - Dundee United v Hamilton Academical
Glencruitten - South Lochaber Thistle v Alloa Athletic

Kick off 12 noon

Mossfield - Oban Saints v Alloa Athletic
Glencruitten - Hamilton Academical v South Lochaber Thistle

Kick off 1pm

Mossfield - Oban Saints v South Lochaber Thistle
Glencruitten - Dundee United v Alloa Athletic

Kick off 2pm

Mossfield - South Lochaber Thistle v Dundee United
Glencruitten - Oban Saints v Hamilton Academical

Kick off 3pm

Mossfield - Hamilton Academical v Alloa Athletic
Glencruitten - Dundee United v Oban Saints

Making their eleventh consecutive tournament appearance are three time winners Alloa Athletic. The Wasps will once again be represented by their reserve team which this season will play in the Scottish Professional Football League Development League East. Also in the East section are Berwick Rangers, Cowdenbeath, Forfar Athletic, Livingston, last season's Champions Raith Rovers and Stirling Albion. The Wasps first team are also in action this Saturday with a home friendly against St Mirren at the Indodrill Stadium. This may divide the loyalties of some of many Alloa fans who make the annual visit to Oban but hopefully the young Wasps side will still attract a good support.

Dundee United have three wins from their twelve previous tournament appearances and carrying United's hopes of drawing level with Heart of Midlothian on four tournament victories this year are their Under 20's Development League squad. United's under 20's finished 14th in last season's seventeen team SPFL under 20's league with 30 points from 32 games. Despite the slump in form from the previous season's eighth place finish the Terrors will console themselves that they managed to finish two points ahead of Tannadice Street neighbours Dundee and five points ahead of their other local rivals St Johnstone who propped up the table. Speaking in this week's Oban Times Dundee United Coach Dave Bowman said "I've been coming to this tournament for years and the format is excellent. It's always a great day out and our fans love coming to Oban".

Cup holders Hamilton Academical make their fourteenth consecutive appearance at the tournament and have entrusted their bid for a fourth tournament win in five years to their Under 20's Development League squad. The Accies youngsters enjoyed another excellent league campaign last season once again finishing runners up but with an increased points tally. Unfortunately their improved return of sixty four points from thirty two matches, despite being good enough to hold off reigning Champions Celtic, fell two points short of overhauling eventual league winners Ross County. The D&K Cup Tournament is always a big favourite with the Accies faithful travelling support whose humorous and vociferous encouragement for their team has become a regular feature of the day's proceedings. Speaking in this week's Oban Times Accies Manager Martin Canning commented "This is a great tournament, ideal for preseason match fitness. It allows the Coaches to give all their squad plenty of game time. They could field four different teams on the day if they wanted to".

Making their D&K Lafferty Cup debut are tournament new boys South Lochaber Thistle who have kindly stepped in at very short notice to fill the void left by the withdrawal of Berwick Rangers. The Jags finished as runners-up in last season's West of Scotland Amateur Football League Premier Division behind Erskine based Champions Newshot. Sadly that was the last ever season of the oldest amateur football league in the world which has now folded after 119 years. Thankfully The Jags have been able to find a new league and will take up residence in the Greater Glasgow Premier Amateur Football League for the new season. They do so as the last ever winners of the West of Scotland Amateur Football League Challenge Shield where they defeated league Champions Newshot in a penalty shoot-out; and the Iain Thomson Memorial Trophy which was secured with a 3 -1 victory over Cardross with both finals being played at Greenfield Park the home of Shettleston Juniors.

The 2016 - 17 campaign was very much a case of what could have been for Manager Alex Craik and his men. Runners-up spot in the preseason Argyll & Bute Cup, where a late Dunoon comeback wrestled the trophy from holders Saints, was followed at the end of the season by an even later strike from Easthall Star to deprive Saints of their last chance of silverware in the Scottish Amateur Football League Jimmy Marshall Trophy. In between times Saints produced another sensational cup run to reach a second successive Scottish Amateur Cup semi-final. However the path to Hampden Park was successfully blocked by Colville Park who came from a Paul Carmichael goal behind to run out 3 - 1 winners before eventually retaining the trophy with a 1 - 0 victory over Southside in the final. Saints completed their set of consolation prizes by finishing in second place in the Scottish Amateur Football League Premier Division behind Champions St Joseph's FP.