Second Scottish semi for Saints
OBAN Saints manager Alex Craik celebrated his 42nd birthday last Saturday by guiding his side into their second consecutive Scottish Amateur Cup semi-final, overcoming Barca-Milton 97 at the Jewel in Edinburgh. The competition started with 573 teams and for Saints to get into the last four for the second season in a row is a tremendous feat for the Oban club.
Definitely not the ‘Jewel In The Crown’ of Edinburgh’s playing surfaces, the venue was a tight, bumpy pitch with long grass and well worthy of the old ‘the pitch was a leveller’ tag.
Team captains Marc Maccallum and Steven Adams exchanged commemorative gifts prior to the tossing of referee James Gallacher’s coin which Marc Maccallum won, electing to shoot into the sun in the first half.
A ball over the top from the hosts in the third minute had Dene Cassells turning with central defensive partner Marc Maccallum having to be on his toes to knock the ball out for a throw-in.
Barca-Milton right-back Russell Johnston launched the first of what was to be a series of long throws from the right into the Saints box from level with the 18yard line. Saints forced the ball partially clear, however Myles McAuley fouled Scott Smith on the opposite flank allowing the former Hibernian man an early chance to demonstrate his prowess with the dead ball which was to prove Barca-Milton’s other main weapon.
Saints dead-ball expert, Willie Gemmell, had his first chance to test the Barca-Milton keeper in the sixth minute after Dene Cassells had been brought down 30 yards from goal.
Willie opted for power but blazed his effort high over Neil McArthur’s crossbar.
In the 13th minute, there appeared to be little danger from a free kick conceded by David McArthur on the halfway line and two yards in from the touchline. However, even from this distance the cultured left foot of Scott Smith posed a significant threat. Smith went for goal, sending his long-range effort over Thomas McCulloch’s head and onto the top of the crossbar, much to the Saints keeper’s relief.
The poor surface forced Saints to abandon their normal passing game in favour of a more direct approach. Willie Gemmell’s prodigious long throw became a valuable weapon, with Paul Carmichael often the target. Paul’s knock- down from a 14th-minute Gemmell throw from the left was met on the half volley by Donald Campbell, who was unlucky to see his sweet strike from nine yards well saved by Neil McArthur.
When Saints did play the ball on the ground, it caused panic in the home defence. Willie Gemmell’s diagonal pass to Brian Mackay sent his midfield colleague scampering towards the Barca-Milton box. Brian laid the ball off to Craig MacEwan, who burst into the box with Kevin Dunn in close attention. Craig turned his man despite Dunn having a handful of Craig’s shirt.
Mr Gallacher didn’t seem to spot this or the trip on Donald Campbell which immediately followed, leaving the large Saints contingent on the touchline deeply frustrated.
On the half-hour mark, Brian Mackay was sandwiched in the centre circle from where Willie Gemmell played his free kick up to the head of Paul Carmichael. Paul’s presence forced a corner kick on the Saints left but, once again, Willie Gemmell’s low delivery was cleared at the front post.
Craig MacEwan hooked a presentable chance wide in the 35th minute from a Willie Gemmell throw-in from the right. However, Craig’s blushes were spared when assistant referee Stephen Fox flagged for a foul throw against Willie.
Another Paul Carmichael cutback from the right went begging in the 40th minute. Myles McAuley spotted Paul in space on the right and sent him once again racing towards the bye-line. Paul’s ball along the six-yard line took out Steven Adams and Kevin Dunn at the near post but not Russell Johnston, who nipped in front of Donald Campbell to make a vital interception.
Neil McArthur produced the save of the afternoon two min- utes before the interval to deny Craig MacEwan.
On the stroke of half-time Craig tried his luck from the opposite corner, this time curling his left foot effort wide of the junction of post and bar.
Saints kicked off the second half with the sun at their backs but it was the hosts who made the early running with Dene Cassells keeping a cool head to see off Lee Cairns on the edge of the box.
The Oban side broke the deadlock in the 55th minute when Donald Campbell pounced on a moment of hesitation in the home defence after a through ball from Brian Mackay caught them out. Barca-Milton appealed in vain for an offside flag but assistant referee Joseph Fox correctly kept his flag by his side. Donald once again saw his shot saved by Neil McArthur but the keeper’s luck ran out when Donald gathered the rebound and rolled it into the net despite the efforts of Steven Adams on the goal-line.
The hosts were now committing more men to the attack and Lee Cairns found his way in behind the Saints defence only to be thwarted by the quick reactions of Thomas McCulloch who came off his line to smother the ball at the Barca-Milton winger’s feet.
Willie Gemmell swung in a corner kick in the 76th minute from the right to which Paul Carmichael beat second half substitute Derek Forbes to head wide of the far post.
This was to be Paul’s last involvement as he made way for Dean Smith in the only change of the afternoon made by the Saints gaffer.
The introduction of Dean Smith saw Donald Campbell drop deeper, leaving Dean and Craig MacEwan as the new strike pairing and with the home side pushing for an equaliser there were more gaps at the back for the pair to exploit.
In the 79th minute, Craig MacEwan found one of those gaps from a David McArthur ball over the top but once again Neil McArthur got his angles spot on to deny Craig the second goal required to calm the increasing nerves on the touchline.
MacEwan and Smith continued to make a nuisance of themselves in and around the Barca-Milton defence. MacEwan had another good opportunity to kill the tie, getting in behind Kevin Dunn and rounding keep- er Neil McArthur but another bad bobble on the poor surface left him an impossible angle on the bye-line from where he could only find the side netting.
The large contingent of Saints fans on the touchline, to whom the club are extremely grateful for their support, had their hearts in their mouths in the 85th minute when Scott Smith once again produced an excellent dead-ball delivery into the Saints box and Derek Forbes rose unopposed at the back post to thankfully head wide of Thomas McCulloch’s right hand post.
As the clock ticked down to the 90th minute the big question was how much additional time Mr Gallacher would allow.
Derek Forbes joined Lee Cairns in the referee’s notebook for a shirt pull on Donald Campbell on the half-way line, allowing Willie Gemmell to knock the ball into the corner for Dean Smith to chase. Dean held the ball up, running down more precious seconds before winning a corner kick on the Saints left.
There was no way this one was going straight into the box and Craig MacEwan and Dean Smith tried to play some keepball by the corner flag.
By now in the 93rd minute, Smith and MacEwan had the ball by the corner flag once again and worked their way into the Barca-Milton box. A Steven Adams attempted clearance was charged down by Smith, breaking kindly for MacEwan who, from the corner of the six-yard box, drilled a right foot shot past Neil McArthur and into the bottom corner to finally kill the tie.
There was barely enough time left to restart the match and referee Gallacher blew almost immediately for full-time, sending Saints through to a second consecutive Scottish Amateur Cup semi-final and making it a particularly happy birthday for the gaffer.
Saints now face cup holders and reigning Central Scottish Amateur Football League Premier Division champions Colville Park for a place in the Hampden Park showcase final on Saturday May 28.
The semi-final against Colville Park will take place on Saturday April 15 at New Douglas Park, home of Hamilton Accies, kickoff 2pm.
Manager Alex Craik was delighted at the outcome. He said: ‘The boys were magnificent. We had to fight for every ball on a terrible pitch, but we were the better team and fully deserve to be in the semi-final.’
It is back to league duty for the Oban side this Saturday when they travel to Glasgow to take on Shawlands FP at Lochinch.