Winning In The Rain: Artful Dodgers

Saturday 7th September 2019
Bridgewater 0 - 3 Oban Saints
Central Scottish Amateur Football League
Division 1B
1152 Palace of Art
Paisley Road West
Glasgow
G52 1EQ
Kick-off 2pm
Referee Mr. Raymond Patterson

Oban Saints made it five wins out of five to extend their lead at the top of the Central Scottish Amateur Football League Division 1B table to five points but it was far from a five star performance at the Palace of Art as the D&K Lafferty sponsored side struggled to overcome determined hosts Bridgewater.

After surviving a couple of early scares a successfully converted Matt Rippon penalty kick gave Saints a first half lead with second half strikes from Craig MacEwan and David Beaton securing the points with a slightly flattering scoreline.

Ross Maitland, Willie Gemmell, Aaron McKay and Gavin Forgrieve all dropped out of the squad from the previous Saturday to make room for the returning David Beaton, Lewis Cameron, Paul Carmichael and Cammy Hill.

David Beaton's inclusion on the right was the only change to the previous week's starting eleven as Saints lined up with Graham Douglas in goal behind a back four of Ruaridh Horne, Steven MacLeod, Captain Dene Cassells and Scott Maitland. Matty Kelly and Myles McAuley occupied the holding midfield roles with David Beaton, Matt Rippon and James Ford ahead and Craig MacEwan leading the line.

On perhaps the strongest bench Saints have ever been able to name were Lewis Cameron, Donald Campbell, Paul Carmichael. Cammy Hill and Kerr Newbigging.

Saints starting lineup:-

Used substitutes:-

Lewis Cameron
Paul Carmichael
Cammy Hill
Kerr Newbigging
Donald Campbell

Saints kicked off in bright warm sunshine but were denied the chance to settle into their normal stride by their hard working hosts who would go on to dominate the early exchanges.

A second minute low shot from Daniel Smith was pushed wide by Graham Douglas but kept alive by Steven Black. The Bridgewater striker squared to Michael Smith who stabbed his first time effort wide of the post under pressure from Scott Maitland.

Central defender Stuart McIntosh looped a header from a long Jason cGoldrick throw-in into the gloves of Graham Douglas before the Saints number one was called into action again in the tenth minute to safely hold a Darren Cowan header from a Craig Keating free-kick.

Saints Skipper Dene Cassells tried to inject some urgency into his side's play with a driving run forward which saw him upended midway inside the Bridgewater half. Cassells stayed forward for Matty Kelly's thirteenth minute free-kick which was inches away from connecting with the big central defender's well timed run into the box.

Kelly was also the provider for Saints first chance from open play which arrived at the midway point of the first half. After linking up well with David Beaton on the right Kelly swung over a good cross which Matt Rippon, arriving late on the six yard line, couldn't direct on target.

The deadlock was broken in the twenty ninth minute when Saints profited from a mix-up in the home defence. David Beaton pounced on a stray back pass and was sent sprawling in the box by Bridgewater keeper Graeme Macrae. Matt Rippon assumed responsibility for the spot kick and sent Macrae in the wrong direction to give Saints the lead.

Rippon's joy at his first goal of the season was curtailed slightly when he was the recipient of Referee Patterson's first yellow card of the afternoon for a thirty first minute tug on the shirt of Bridgewater Skipper Craig Keating.

David Beaton and Craig MacEwan combined well on the left to force a thirty second minute corner kick as chances for both sides remained at a premium. James Ford's delivery to the back post was nodded back by Myles McAuley to Craig MacEwan whose hooked effort from sixteen yards flew high and wide of target.

Craig Keating followed suit at the other end sending a twenty eight yard free-kick crashing into the perimeter fencing on the stroke of half-time.

Attacking the pavilion end Saints made a better start to the second half with Matty Kelly hooking a right wing James Ford cross over the crossbar.

Saints Management duo Donald Campbell and Willie Gemmell made an early change replacing goalscorer Matt Rippon with Lewis Cameron in the fifty second minute.

Cameron's introduction paid instant dividends when he retrieved a David Beaton left wing cross which central defender Ross Gemmell had helped on it's way. Cameron picked out Craig MacEwan in the middle with a low cross which the Saints leading scorer gleefully tucked away from close range.

A long stoppage followed an off the ball incident out of sight of the Referee on the edge of the Saints box as the teams set themselves for a Bridgewater free-kick midway inside the Saints half. As temperatures briefly threatened to boil over experienced Referee Raymond Patterson kept a cool head to bring matters back under control with only Jason McGoldrick receiving a caution for his part in the heated exchanges.

Saints made a second change after sixty two minutes sending on Paul Carmichael to replace Steven MacLeod who had produced a typically solid performance at the heart of the defence.

A further change followed five minutes later when James Ford made way for teenage striker Cammy Hill.

Lewis Cameron was unfortunate to receive a sixty seventh minute yellow card for an alleged push on Craig Keating before the hosts made their first change introducing burly striker Rajinder Samrai at the expense of wide man Michael Smith.

Saints made the points secure with twenty minutes remaining when Matty Kelly's driving run and cut back from just short of the bye-line was met by David Beaton sliding in at the near post to divert the ball past Graeme Macrae and into the far corner of the net.

Beaton thought he had added a fourth in the seventy eighth minute when he appeared to time his run onto a Lewis Cameron through ball perfectly only for Referee Patterson to rule his well placed finish across Graeme Macrae out for offside.

Bridgewater central defender Ross Gemmell joined the growing list of miscreants in Mr Patterson's notebook for a late challenge on Cammy Hill on the edge of the centre circle.

Now treading the disciplinary tightrope Gemmell was dispossessed on the corner of his own box by Craig MacEwan who fed Lewis Cameron on the overlap. Cameron's low cross to the near post was stabbed narrowly wide of target by David Beaton in the final act of an influential second half performance before the diminutive wide man was replaced by Donald Campbell.

Further changes followed with Kerr Newbigging replacing Matty Kelly for Saints and Scott Hughes and Ross McIntyre getting late run outs for the hosts in place of Daniel Smith and Ciaran McKenna.

Donald Campbell's quick thinking from a corner kick on the left caught the Bridgewater defence napping in the eighty fifth minute. From Campbell's short corner Lewis Cameron sent a ball to the far post which Cammy Hill on the stretch smacked off the outside of Graeme Macrae's left hand post.

The home side continued to press forward in search of what would have been a deserved consolation goal but were kept at bay by a Saints defence determined to keep their highly prized clean sheet intact.

Lewis Cameron and Cammy Hill both spurned good late chances on the break to put a gloss on the scoreline however Saints Management duo Donald Campbell and Willie Gemmell, despite seeing their charges fail to fully hit their stride, will be reasonably satisfied to come away from a difficult fixture with maximum points.

After two weeks without a fixture the Glencruitten faithful now have two consecutive home games to look forward to. First up, on Saturday 14th September, Cambusnethan Talbot come calling in the Central Scottish Amateur Football League Division 1B followed seven days later by a visit from old rivals Inverclyde in the West of Scotland Amateur Cup.