Winning In The Rain: Third Quarter

Saturday 10th March 2018
The Scottish Amateur Football Association Challenge Cup Competition
Seventh Round
Oban Saints 2 - 0 Yoker United
Glencruitten 2
Mossfield Avenue
Oban
PA34 4EH
Kick off 2.00pm
Referee Mr Thomas Gilchrist

Oban Saints starting line-up:-

Used substitutes:-

Jamie Graham
Kerr Newbigging

Unused substitutes:-

Alex Craik
James Ford
Ruaridh Horne
Craig MacMillan

Last Saturday at a cold, wet and windy Glencruitten, Oban Saints clinched their place in the quarter finals of the Scottish Amateur Cup with a hard fought 2 - 0 victory over Yoker United. Despite this being their debut season, the Strathclyde Saturday Morning Amateur Football League new boys gave an extremely good account of themselves and will be slightly disappointed not to have taken something from the game. Saints however dug in where necessary and, although well short of their best form, ultimately had too much for the visitors and booked a third consecutive quarter finals appearance.

Saints Manager Alex Craik took the now customary flurry of late call-offs in his stride to name a strong starting eleven. Graham Douglas lined up in goal behind a back four of Steven MacLeod, Marc Maccallum, Paul Carmichael and Scott Maitland. Willie Gemmell anchored the midfield alongside Matthew Kelly and Keith Millar. Up front Skipper Donald Campbell spearheaded the attack flanked by Shaun MacIver and Craig MacEwan. On a full bench with a perfect blend of youth and experience were Alex Craik, Jamie Graham, Kerr Newbigging, Ruaridh Horne, Craig MacMillan and new signing James Ford.

The visitors kicked off attacking the Mossfield end where they had the ball in the net after five minutes. Yoker Skipper Allan Evans broke up a promising Saints attack with a robust but, in the opinion of 2017 Scottish Amateur Cup Final Referee Thomas Gilchrist, fair challenge on Scott Maitland and immediately launched a counter attack on the right. With Maitland prostrate in the Yoker half, right winger Derek Carson had plenty of the soggy Glencruitten turf to run into and collected the quick ball forward from Evans. The Saints defence had been turned and Carson's ball across the box was turned in at the back post by Darren Currie. Fortunately for Saints Mr Gilchrist ruled that Currie had strayed offside allowing Saints to survive the early scare.

Despite Yoker being a newly formed club Manager James O'Hara has built a solid squad packed full of experience which had them in the ascendancy in the early exchanges as Saints failed miserably to hit their usual stride.

Yoker's main goal threat Paul McCartney got the better of Marc Maccallum on the eighteen yard line in the eighth minute but failed to trouble Graham Douglas with a tame effort straight at the Saints number one.

Yoker Skipper Allan Evans earned a stern talking to from Mr Gilchrist for an overly robust tackle on Craig MacEwan before opposite number Donald Campbell stretched the Referee's patience too far and picked up the game's first yellow card for a badly mistimed challenge on Stuart Alexander.

After a brief stoppage for treatment to Alexander, Kieren McIntyre swung in the free-kick from the left which Graham Douglas came out confidently to collect.

A better spell from Saints won the first corner kick corner kick of the match in the twenty first minute after good work on the left from Scott Maitland, Craig MacEwan and Donald Campbell. Willie Gemmell's delivery was headed away at the front post by Ross Thomson but only as far as Scott Maitland who headed the ball back into the danger area. Craig MacEwan brought the ball down well but, under pressure from Allan Evans, scuffed his shot which was comfortably held by Yoker keeper Craig Brown.

Derek Carson was proving a handful for Scott Maitland on the Yoker right but his low cross in the twenty second minute was well cut out at the front post by Paul Carmichael who, after a shaky start, formed a solid partnership in the centre of the Saints defence with Marc Maccallum.

A late twenty seventh minute Stephen O'Hara tackle on Donald Campbell gave Willie Gemmell a dead ball opportunity however his left of centre effort from twenty two yards failed to clear the five man Yoker wall.

From an almost identical position five minutes later Gemmell came within the width of the crossbar of opening the scoring. Shaun MacIver's powerful run from right to left was ended by Allan Evans giving Gemmell another chance to show his prowess with the dead ball. Trying to pick out the back post run of Shaun MacIver, Gemmell's curling delivery smacked off the crossbar with Craig Brown well beaten.

Kieren McIntyre's trickery on the left allowed him to escape the attentions of Steven MacLeod in the thirty fourth minute however the inspirational Marc Maccallum was alive to the danger and made a vital interception at the front post.

The action swung quickly to the other end where Craig MacEwan sent Donald Campbell in behind the Yoker back three. William McKellar came sliding in and blocked with his forearm as Campbell tried to lift the ball over him in the box however Referee Gilchrist was unsighted and unable to give the decision.

Yoker ended the first half camped in the Saints half forcing a succession of corners which the Saints defence were able to deal with before a Derek Carson cross from the corner of the eighteen yard box found Darren Currie well offside on the six yard line. The big striker beat Graham Douglas with a well placed header however Mr Gilchrist was up with play and had an easy decision to make in ruling out the goal.

Saints knew they had to raise their game and duly did so for the start of the second half. After just sixty seconds Steven MacLeod's adventurism on the right set up Matthew Kelly for a shot from the edge of the box. Kelly's sclaffed effort wrong footed the Yoker defence and fell kindly for Donald Campbell fourteen yards out who didn't need a second invitation to tuck the ball into the bottom corner beyond the left hand of Craig Brown.

The home side almost doubled their advantage straight from the restart with the danger again emanating from Steven MacLeod on the right. Shaun MacIver picked up the ball from MacLeod and continued his run across the edge of the box before slipping Craig MacEwan in on the left. MacEwan's placed finish across Craig Brown beat the keeper but unfortunately also the far post.

After ten second half minutes Yoker made a double substitution replacing Stuart Alexander and Paul McCartney with Daniel Armstrong and Robert White.

The away side's best chance of getting an equaliser looked likely to come from a set piece however the home defence remained firm repelling everything the visitors could muster. Shaun MacIver headed clear a fifty sixth minute free-kick which Donald Campbell latched onto sending Paul Carmichael on a quick counter attack up the right. Carmichael's return pass was fractionally too far in front of Campbell allowing Stephen O'Hara and Craig Brown to make the block just inside the Yoker box.

Understandably for a cup tie of this magnitude emotions were running high and Matthew Kelly was next to find his way into Referee Gilchrist's notebook in the fifty seventh minute for one foul too many in the keenly contested midfield area.

Kelly was joined four minutes later by Shaun MacIver and Allan Evans after the pair were involved in a minor altercation on the edge of the Yoker box.

A swashbuckling run from Scott Maitland in the sixty third minute opened up the Yoker defence with William McKellar making a vital interception to prevent Craig MacEwan squaring to Shaun MacIver for a tap-in.

A lunging Stephen O'Hara challenge on Donald Campbell went unpunished in the sixty ninth minute as Saints looked to break on the Yoker defence once again. Marc Maccallum's protests at the lack of a free-kick award earned him a yellow card from Mr Gilchrist which would later prove to be very costly.

With twenty minutes remaining Graham Douglas produced the save of the match to deny the visitors an equaliser. A delicious diagonal ball over the top from Kieren McIntyre ten yards inside his own half and wide on the left picked out the run of Robert White. The Yoker striker raced into the box but was thwarted by an excellent save by the Saints number one who narrowed the angle and stood up well to make a vital block.

Yoker made a second double substitution with fifteen minutes remaining bringing on Robert McGowan and William Reid to replace Ross Thomson and Darren Currie.

Saints Manager Alex Craik also decided on a change bolstering the midfield with the addition of Kerr Newbigging at the expense of striker Shaun MacIver.

Newbigging's first involvement was to win a free-kick when his run through the inside right channel was unceremoniously halted by William McKellar. Willie Gemmell's delivery into the box was too far in front of Paul Carmichael. Craig MacEwan picked up the loose ball and tried to feed Donald Campbell on the corner of the six yard box only for Stephen O'Hara to make a well timed sliding interception to turn the ball behind for a corner kick. Willie Gemmell's ball into the six yard area was partially cleared but Scott Maitland kept the pressure on with a driving run into the box. With Allan Evans, William McKellar and Stephen O'Hara in pursuit, Maitland spurned a golden opportunity to square the ball to the unmarked Donald Campbell instead having to settle for another corner kick off Allan Evans.

The Yoker defence dealt with Willie Gemmell's latest delivery from the corner flag and were able to move the action to the other end where Scott Maitland redeemed himself somewhat with a vital sliding interception on Robert White after another slide rule pass from Kieren McIntyre.

The visitors were forced into one final change in the eighty ninth minute when a pulled hamstring ended Stephen O'Hara's involvement requiring a late run-out for Manager James O'Hara.

With Yoker committing everything to attack Donald Campbell looked to hit on the break again in the ninety first minute. Craig Brown took the sting out of Campbell's effort on the edge of the box and second half substitute Robert McGowan held his nerve well to nick the ball off the toes of Matthew Kelly who was closing in for what would surely have been a decisive second goal.

Mr Gilchrist allowed a generous amount of stoppage time during which the visitors looked to launch the ball forward at every opportunity. The Saints rearguard, defiantly marshalled by Marc Maccallum, stood firm providing the platform for yet another Donald Campbell counter attack in the ninety third minute. Kerr Newbigging's ball over the top was squared by Campbell looking for Craig MacEwan and drew a crucial mistake from Robert McGowan whose handball in the box left Referee Gilchrist no option but to point to the penalty spot.

Willie Gemmell's perfectly placed penalty kick gave Yoker keeper Craig Brown no chance however the drama didn't end there. Marc Maccallum and Kerr Newbigging's disagreement over defensive positioning at the penalty kick became dangerously inflamed forcing Mr Gilchrist to issue yellow cards to both and prematurely ending Maccallum's involvement.

Matthew Kelly made way for Jamie Graham for what little time remained on the watch before Mr Gilchrist, who correctly called the majority of the game's big decisions, ended proceedings setting up a quarter-finals appearance for Saints against either Sandys of the Lothian and Edinburgh Amateur Football Association Premier Division or Scottish Amateur Football League Premier Division table toppers Goldenhill.

Saints return to Scottish Amateur Football League Premier Division action on Saturday when they travel to Greenock to face a resurgent Inverclyde in what promises to be a difficult battle for vital league points.