Winning In The Rain: D&K Cup 2018 Preview

The 25th 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 seven tournament wins between them. The inclusion of debutants St Anthony's will come as a surprise to many, however grateful thanks are due to Manager John Kelly and his men for stepping in at the eleventh hour to replace three time tournament winners Alloa Athletic who unfortunately had to withdraw at short notice. withdrew at extremely short notice. The format remains unchanged with the teams playing each other once in matches 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 that certainly looks to be the case this year. Thankfully, however, the recent scorching hot sunshine is forecast to be replaced with a little bit of cloud cover and a gentle breeze which should keep the temperature to a more tolerable level. 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 sixth 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 - St Johnstone v Oban Saints

Kick off 12 noon

Mossfield - Oban Saints v St Anthony's
Glencruitten - Hamilton Academical v St Johnstone

Kick off 1pm

Mossfield - St Anthony's v St Johnstone
Glencruitten - Dundee United v Oban Saints

Kick off 2pm

Mossfield - St Johnstone v Dundee United
Glencruitten - St Anthony's v Hamilton Academical

Kick off 3pm

Mossfield - Hamilton Academical v Oban Saints
Glencruitten - Dundee United v St Anthony's

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 youthful reserve side. United will be lead by recently appointed Reserve Team Manager Craig Easton and his assistant Scott Robertson. Easton returns to Tannadice, where he made 259 first team appearances, following a successful spell in charge of the Development League side at Raith Rovers. Back-to-back Development League East titles at Stark's Park brought the United youth set-up graduate onto the radar of his first professional club whom he re-joined on 1st June this year. In an interview for Dundee United's website ahead of the trip to Oban Easton said "I am looking forward to it and the lads are looking forward to it. They have been back in training for almost two weeks and this will give them an opportunity to test themselves in games against good opposition. The format means they will play in high intensity short matches throughout the day over a five hour period. It is ideal and will help prepare them for the season ahead. We will be travelling up on Friday and staying overnight to prepare properly and I thank the Dundee United Youth Development Board for organising the stay"

Cup holders Hamilton Academical make their fifteenth consecutive appearance at the tournament and have entrusted their bid for a fifth tournament win in six years to their Under 20's/Under 18's squad. 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. Although unable to be present due to a first team friendly against Clyde at Broadwood, Accies Manager Martin Canning did have these words for The Oban Times "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 St Anthony's who have kindly stepped in at very short notice to fill the void left by the withdrawal of regular visitors Alloa Athletic. The Ants were founded in Govan in 1904 and, after gaining Junior status in 1905, quickly became a major force in the semi-professional ranks reaching their zenith between the first and second world wars. Four Scottish Junior League Championships, including three in a row between the 1918-19 and 1920-21 seasons, were joined in the Ants' trophy cabinet by the West of Scotland Junior Cup, the Glasgow Junior Cup and numerous other trophies during a remarkable purple patch. Only the much coveted Scottish Junior Cup escaped their clutches during this period losing the 1918-19 and 1924-25 finals to Rutherglen Glencairn and Saltcoats Victoria respectively with the latter requiring two replays to separate the sides.

The resumption of football after the second world war saw the Ants gain more honours without managing to reach the heights of their formative years. A series of set backs off the field, starting with a German bomb razing their pavilion to the ground in 1941, eventually left the Ants homeless and at their lowest ebb. However their fortunes took a turn for the better in 2003 when they found a new home off Shieldhall Road in Cardonald promptly named McKenna Park. The move to McKenna Park coincided with the lifting of the Ants last significant piece of silverware when they secured the 2002-03 Scottish Junior Football Association West Region Central District Division Two title. A thirteen season spell in Division One followed eventually coming to an end in May 2016 when they joined Carluke Rovers and Dunipace Juniors in dropping into Division Two.

Often wrongly credited with being the inspiration for Celtic's famous green and white hoops the Ants have in fact provided the Glasgow giants with sixty one players over the years the most famous of which being Scottish Football Hall of Fame inductee Bobby Evans. Centre half Evans was transferred from the Ants to Celtic in 1944 and went on to Captain the Parkhead club making a total of 535 appearances along the way. Evans also won forty eight caps for Scotland and Captained his country on twelve occasions.

If you would like to find out more about the history of St Anthony's head over to the excellent http://www.antshistory.moonfruit.com/ website.

The Ants have appointed new Manager John Kelly to mastermind an improvement on last season's fourth placed league finish and secure a return to Division One. Kelly joins from top Paisley and District Amateur Football Association club Glenvale where, despite narrowly missing out on the Premier Division crown, he secured four cup wins in his two seasons in charge. John previously tasted success with the now disbanded Apex lifting the Paisley league's Premier Division trophy in 2015.

The new Manager brings with him a wealth of experience and a winning mentality and has brought in a number of new faces as well as re-signing key members of last season's squad. Speaking to Gerry Lafferty of Ants TV Kelly had these words for the Ants faithful "Looking at the squad there's no reason why we can't push for promotion. My main aim this close season was to build a squad to take the Ants up a level. Promotion, that's what we're looking for".

The 2017 - 18 campaign brought to an end the tenure of Gaffer Alex Craik who stands down after three years in charge. By his own high standards Alex's final season in charge was a disappointing one severely hampered by the lack of a consistent starting line-up. Incredibly Saints went through the entire season without naming the same starting eleven twice. Even more remarkably given the trying circumstances Alex still managed to guide his charges to the quarter finals of the Scottish Amateur Cup, where they lost out to eventual runners-up Goldenhill, and the sixth round of the West of Scotland Amateur Cup where they were pipped by Scottish Amateur Cup winners Shortlees.

Stepping down after two Argyll & Bute Cup and one Jimmy Marshall Trophy successes, as well as two Scottish Amateur Cup semi-final appearances, Alex now plans to concentrate his efforts on Oban Saints 2006's who hope to be competing in the Glasgow and District Youth Football League this coming season. The out going Gaffer hands over the reins to new management duo Donald Campbell and Willie Gemmell who, assisted by coach Jamie Graham, began intensive preparations for the season ahead with punishing fitness sessions on Monday and Wednesday evening. Saints stalwarts Campbell and Gemmell will be looking for a step up in fitness and commitment from their new charges to mount a serious challenge in the Scottish Amateur Football League Premier Division which kicks off on 18th August.