AmAteur footbAll

WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN

It’s a long haul and a hard six rounds to get to the last 16 of the Scottish Amateur Cup but to exit it with a feeling of “what might have been” is something Douglas Athletic followers will carry with them for a while, writes our Amateur correspondent.

They had enough on their plate hosting top Caledonian League side Thorn Athletic in the seventh round on a boggy Fintry Park, but even with home advantage, the loss of two players in the process through straight red cards made the Dundee side’s task nigh on impossible. To finish the first half 1-0 down and with only 10 men was bad enough but to go two behind and down to nine with just 15 to go seemed like the end. Yet with their nine men they pulled one back almost immediately and then Scott Ritchie hit the post. But the last word went to Thorn who grabbed another near the end to win it 3-1 and reach the next round. The consensus was that the better footballing side had exited in circumstances that might have been avoided – and that was the big disappointment.

Away from the Scottish the focus was on the crucial Premier League match between Menzieshill AFC and St James – both knowing that a defeat could scupper both side’s title ambitions. So a narrow 2-1 victory for the Saints keeps them at the forefront of the contest, whereas Hill, the current champions, will need to rely on a few others and favourable results in their own matches to have any chance of retaining their crown. In an evenly-fought match, Dave Kiddy for AFC and Jamie McCormack for the visitors had balanced the score at 1-1 by half-time.

Then McCormack got his second after the break to give his side the win. Although the losers had two oneon-one chances to level the St James keeper showed again why he is arguably the best in the league. Lochee United are still topping the table by virtue of the number of games played and they were able to maintain that position by being involved in one of the few matches to survive Saturday’s rain.

Their consistency ensured they collected the three points against Newport with a 4-1 victory.

A Chris Irvine hat-trick and one from Mark Scott saw off the Fifers. They still head the table with 32 points from 14 games, with unbeaten St James three behind but having played three games fewer. Douglas have a 100% record with 24 points from their eight games played and are still the team to beat.

In the other Premier fixture, Portcullis took a very early 2-0 lead over Morgan Academy FP with the school side spending the rest of the match trying to retrieve the situation.

They eventually got their just deserts with late goals from Sam Reid and David Nesbitt.

Both sides will be looking at it as two points dropped, although the balance of play was well in the FPs’ favour. In Division 1 AHSFP kept their challenge for promotion intact with a 5-0 victory over Monifieth Tayside. Zac Archer (2), Richie Fenwick (2) and Andrew Gunning netted their goals. With Forfar West End winning as well, things are really warming up in that promotion race.