Saturday 12th January 2019
The Scottish Amateur Football Association Challenge Cup Competition
Fifth Round Replay
Oban Saints v Rothie Rovers
Glencruitten 2
Mossfield Avenue
Oban
Argyll
PA34 4EH
Kick off 1.30pm
Referee Mr Ross Holms
Following last Saturday's draw in Rothienorman, Saints and Rothie Rovers of the Aberdeenshire Amateur Football Association Premier Division go head to head once again this Saturday at Glencruitten. This time around there must be a winner therefore the tie kicks off at 1.30 pm to allow for the possibility of extra-time and penalty kicks.
In charge of what is sure to be another keenly contested affair is experienced Caledonian League Referee Ross Holms.
The prize for the victors is an away tie on Saturday 2nd February at Scottish Amateur Football League Premier Division Alba Thistle.
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| Rothie Rovers Aberdeenshire Amateur Football Association Division One (North) Champions 2013 - 14 |
Rothie Rovers results so far this season:-
Aberdeenshire Amateur Football Association Premier Division
Rothie Rovers 3 -2 Sportsman's Club
Cove Thistle 2 - 2 Rothie Rovers
Rothie Rovers 3 -2 St Laurence
Insch 1 - 1 Rothie Rovers
Rothie Rovers 2 -2 Stoneywood East End
Newtonhill 0 - 0 Rothie Rovers
Rothie Rovers 5 -3 Westdyke
Old Aberdonians 1 - 3 Rothie Rovers
Aberdeenshire Amateur Football Association Premier Trophy
First Round
Rothie Rovers 3 - 0 MS United
Quarter Finals
Cowie Thistle 1 - 2 Rothie Rovers
Semi Finals
Rothie Rovers v Sportsman's Club
Final
Rothie Rovers or Sportsman's Club v Woodside
Aberdeenshire Amateur Football Association Trophy
First Round
RGU 0 - 3 Rothie Rovers
Second Round
Rothie Rovers 2 - 4 Sportsman's Club
Aberdeenshire Amateur Football Association Aberdeen FC Trophy
First Round
Bye
Second Round
University Strollers 0 - 8 Rothie Rovers
Third Round
Tolbooth v Rothie Rovers
Scottish Amateur Cup
First Round
1st September 2018 B.S. AFC 3 - 5 Rothie Rovers
Second Round
6th October 2018 Syngenta 2 - 3 Rothie Rovers
Third Round
3rd November 2018 Newport 0 - 1 Rothie Rovers
Fourth Round
1st December 2018 Dalziel HSFP's 0 - 1 Rothie Rovers
Fifth Round
5th January 2019 Rothie Rovers 1 - 1 Oban Saints
Fifth Round Replay
12th January 2019 Oban Saints v Rothie Rovers
North of Scotland Amateur Cup
First Round
13th October 2018 Rothie Rovers 7 - 0 University
Second Round
17th November 2018 Cowie Thistle 2 - 2 Rothie Rovers
Third Round
19th January 2019 Westdyke v Rothie Rovers
Rothie Rovers Aberdeenshire Amateur Football Association Finishes:-
2016-17 Premier Division 3rd
2017-18 Premier Division 3rd
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| Rothie Rovers |
Oban Saints Route To The Fourth Round
Round One
Oban Saints renewed acquaintances with former Scottish Amateur Football League rivals Gartcosh United at Eastgate, Gartcosh where three goals in a scintillating six minute first half spell saw Saints progress to the second round of the Scottish Amateur Cup. Having recovered from an early Gary Pettigrew strike Saints roared into a 3 - 1 through goals from Lewis Cameron, Craig MacEwan and James Ford. Although unable to add to their tally Saints were good value for the win over their very useful Central Scottish Amateur Football League opponents despite a stoppage time counter from another old acquaintance, former Pollock striker, Steven Williams.
Round Two
Round two saw Saints drawn at home against Perthshire Amateur Football Association Division One title chasers St Johns. The visitors had made a blistering start to the 2018-19 campaign slamming home an incredible seventy-nine goals in twelve matches and, with the only black mark on their otherwise perfect record being a 3 -1 home league defeat to reigning champions Letham, an exciting cup tie looked to be in prospect for the Glencruitten faithful. Unfortunately injuries and holiday commitments left the visitors short of some key players giving Saints a far more straight forward afternoon than they might reasonably have anticipated.
A brace from James Ford set Saints on their way to a five goal half-time lead with two own goals and a Donald Campbell strike putting Saints on easy street.
Perhaps understandably given their five goal cushion, Saints were slow out the blocks for the second half and gave the visitors a glimmer of hope when Mark McNiven knocked home from close range in the sixty second minute. Any hopes of a comeback for St Johns were extinguished just three minutes later when Lewis Cameron restored Saints five goal advantage. Second half substitute Fraser MacFarlane added a seventh before Craig MacEwan beat the overworked Ryan Stewart in the St Johns goal with a twenty five yard free-kick. Leading goal scorer Lewis Cameron saved the best until last with the pick of the bunch in the eighty second minute expertly taking down a Dougal Graham cross from the left before turning away from Craig Rattray and lashing the ball into the net for what would prove to be the final goal of the match.
Round Three
A hat-trick from leading goalscorer Lewis Cameron saw Oban Saints safely through to the fourth round of the Scottish Amateur Cup at a windswept Forfar Community Campus on Saturday 3rd November. Despite not firing on all cylinders Saints had more than enough in their armoury to see off the challenge of their Midlands Amateur Football Association Premier Division opponents.
Thankfully the heavy rain which had followed Saints for most of the long journey from the west coast disappeared by the time the travelling party had reached Angus however there was still a strong wind to contend with which made life difficult for both sets of players.
David Beaton's strong run through the middle in the twentieth minute earned Saints a free-kick in a dangerous area when Dean Fletcher's challenge from behind sent the wee man crashing to the ground. Lewis Cameron staked his claim to Willie Gemmell's free-kick expert throne with a viciously dipping effort from twenty two yards which left the Lowson keeper clawing at thin air and gave Saints a deserved lead.
Despite having the upper hand Saints failed to increase their lead and were rocked early in the second half when the hosts equalised from deep inside their own half from a position of seemingly no danger. Left fullback Mark Godfrey launched a wind assisted throw-in one yard from the touchline almost to the halfway line. Liam Hely hooked a diagonal ball over the head of Scott Maitland allowing Rory Crighton to race in behind and fire an unstoppable shot across Graham Douglas and into the corner of the net.
With the wind at their backs this should have been the cue for the home side to seize the initiative however it was Saints who showed the greater resolve and kicked on to record their tenth successive victory of what has been a satisfying start to the season.
Saints regained the lead in the seventy first minute with Scott Maitland providing the assist to make up for his earlier indiscretion for the Lowson equaliser. After making an excellent driving run up the left, Maitland hit the touchline and cutback perfectly for Lewis Cameron arriving at the near post to knock home from four yards.
Straight from the restart Saints stormed forward on the left once again and Donald Campbell was unfortunate to see a delicate chip from the corner of the eighteen yard box clip the outside of Fraser Reid's left hand post and bounce behind for goal kick.
Saints had their tails up now and put some daylight between themselves and their hosts in the seventy fifth minute. James Ford and Matthew Kelly combined well to tee-up Lewis Cameron for a shot from the left of the Lowson penalty area which flew across Fraser Reid and into the bottom corner to seal a first hat-trick of the season for Saints leading goalscorer.
Round Four
After two weeks of inactivity Saints were desperate to bounce back from defeat against Scottish Amateur Football League Premier Division title rivals St Joseph's FP in their last outing and came flying out of the traps with Donald Campbell twice coming close in the opening minutes.
The early pressure from the home side eventually paid off in the eighteenth minute when young full back Ruaridh Horne showed Calum Robertson a clean pair of heels on the Saints right. Hugging the touchline, Horne reached the byeline and sent a cutback into the six yard box where Lewis Cameron, with his back to goal, sent a neat flick past the helpless keeper.
Saints kept knocking on the door and doubled their advantage in the thirty seventh minute when Craig MacEwan got on the end of a Willie Gemmell defence splitting pass and curled a delightful right foot finish across the keeper and just inside the far post.
The lead however was halved just two minutes later when David Wilson was allowed to carry the ball unchallenged along the edge of the Saints box and curl a left foot shot past the unsighted Graham Douglas.
The goal gave the visitors from the Strathclyde Saturday Morning Amateur Football League Premier Division a major confidence boost as they enjoyed their best spell of the match in the time leading up to Referee Thomas Gilchrist's half-time whistle.
Thistle looked to set to maintain their new found vigour attacking straight from the restart where Dene Cassells was happy to see Sean Cullen carry the ball behind from a promising situation. Saints however delivered a sucker punch to stretch their advantage and regain the initiative.
From the goal kick Saints worked the ball out from the back and Scott Maitland threaded a pass to Lewis Cameron who spun in behind the visitor's high defensive line and raced through on goal. Daniel Connelly came off his line and got his feet to the ball which sent Cameron away from goal but still with the ball in his possession. With the keeper in no man's land Cameron rolled the ball to Donald Campbell on the corner of the eighteen yard box who calmly passed the ball into the unguarded net for Saints third goal.
Matthew Kelly continued his injury recuperation with a fifty fifth minute appearance at the expense of Daniel Croarkin who was just one mistimed challenge away from a second yellow card.
Saints once again failed to hit the target with a header when Dene Cassells made a good run across the face of goal to send a stooping header from a fifty sixth minute Lewis Cameron left wing corner kick wide of Daniel Connelly's right hand post.
With the deficit still at two the visitors who never gave up maintained some hope of getting back into the match and Jordan Conner forced Graham Douglas into a save after a good Thistle move through the middle.
Those hopes were extinguished however on the hour mark when Scott Maitland linked up well with Matthew Kelly and Craig MacEwan to get in behind the Jags defence on the left and fire a low shot across the keeper and into the far corner to open his goal scoring account for the season.
An ankle knock ended Reece Bryce's involvement with Peter Carr coming on as a sixty third minute replacement before Thistle struck the woodwork for a second time when Jack Irvine sent a dipping effort from twenty yards onto the top of the crossbar and out for a goal kick.
Saints made a further two changes in the sixty fifth minute replacing Willie Gemmell and James Ford, who had a quiet game by his usual standards, with David Beaton and Fraser MacFarlane.
Saints passed up yet another headed opportunity in the sixty seventh minute with Craig MacEwan this time the culprit sending header from a Lewis Cameron free-kick wide of target.
The scoring was rounded off in the eightieth minute when a well weighted pass from David Beaton sent Craig MacEwan scampering through the inside left channel. MacEwan rounded the advancing keeper and from an acute angle rolled the ball to the far post presenting Fraser MacFarlane with a tap-in.
The time remaining on the watch of Referee Gilchrist, who had an excellent game, was played out with little incident with players and supporters alike happy to hear the final whistle and finally escape the elements.
Round Five
Saints made the long journey to Rothienorman in deepest Aberdeenshire to face so far undefeated Aberdeenshire Amateur Football Association Premier Division side Rothie Rovers.
The Christmas and New Year break looked to have taken a heavy toll on a Saints side which had bagged twenty goals in their run to the fifth round with the few first half chances that came their way being squandered.
The home side had notched four impressive away victories in their Scottish Amateur Cup run and were relishing their cup appearance of the season on home soil.
Rovers were the grateful beneficiaries of a hotly disputed offside decision in the fifty fifth minute which saw top goal scorer Jake Stewart open the scoring bundling home the rebound after Graham Douglas has saved his initial effort.
Worse was to follow for Saints fifteen minutes later when Steven MacLeod was penalised for handball inside the Saints box giving Jake Stewart the chance to double his tally from twelve yards. Graham Douglas however came to the rescue make a brilliant diving save to keep his side in the tie.
The let-off galvanised the thus far lack lustre Saints who mounted a period of sustained pressure for the closing stages which ultimately paid off with two minutes of the ninety to go when James Ford was scythed down inside the Rothie box.
Saints top goal scorer Lewis Cameron succeeded where his opposite number had failed and drilled the ball past Lewis Milne to level the scores and send a relieved Saints squad home with their Scottish Amateur Cup hopes still alive.
Oban Saints 2018 - 19 Scottish Amateur Cup Campaign
1st Round
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