Weather fails to d as Saints march o
Ian ‘Haybo’ Hay may have relinquished control at Oban Camanachd but thankfully he hasn’t given up his day job as Argyll and Bute Council’s number one groundsman.
Despite the torrential rain which battered down relentlessly all day the Glencruitten turf, painstakingly prepared by Haybo, stood up perfectly to the challenge of last Saturday’s Scottish Amateur Cup fourth round tie between Oban Saints and East Kilbride Thistle avoiding any chance of a repeat of the previous two cancellations in East Kilbride.
Delights
With the tie now reversed to Oban it provided an unexpected treat for the hardy band of loyal supporters who had escaped the delights of Christmas shopping to cheer on their favourites in the pouring rain and ice cold wind.
A five star performance from Saints in very testing conditions booked a fifth round trip to Rothienorman, deep in the Aberdeenshire countryside, to face Rothie Rovers of the Aberdeenshire Amateur Football Association Premier Division, the most northerly club left in the competition, on Saturday January 5.
Five goals from five different scorers allowed Saints’ management duo of Donald Campbell and Willie Campbell the luxury of giving all five substitutes a run in the club’s final match before the Christmas and New Year break.
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 forcing Thistle keeper Daniel Connelly into a smart save low down to his right inside the first minute.
Barely 60 seconds later, after being played in by Craig MacEwan, Campbell successfully beat the keeper but his effort from a tight angle on the left of the 18-yard box slipped agonisingly wide of the far post.
Saints continued to threaten with Craig MacEwan flashing a left foot shot inches wide of Daniel Connelly’s right hand post and Sean Maclean clearing a deflected Lewis Cameron corner kick off the Thistle goal line.
The pressure from the home side eventually paid off in the 18th 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.
Having got their noses in front Saints were almost pegged back in the 20th minute when Sean Cullen robbed Dene Cassells on the Saints byeline and took aim for the near post where Graham Douglas was able to shovel behind for a corner kick.
Birthday goal
Willie Gemmell came close to notching a birthday goal when he sent a diving header from a 22nd minute Lewis Cameron right wing corner a fraction wide of the near post.
Daniel Croarkin picked up the first yellow card of the afternoon for a late challenge on Jordan Conner in the 23rd minute and was joined in the book 60 seconds later when Craig Livingstone exacted some retribution on the Saints midfielder.
Sean Cullen continued to make a nuisance of himself wherever possible and caught out Steven MacLeod and Ruaridh Horne in the 28th minute. Horne recovered just in time to get the slightest touch on Cullen’s attempted lob and send it spinning onto the top of the Saints crossbar with Graham Douglas left clawing at thin air.
On the half hour mark Dene Cassells joined the attack for a Lewis Cameron freekick which picked out the skipper’s back post run perfectly. Unfortunately Cassells couldn’t find the finish to match his run and glanced his header wide of Daniel Connelly’s left hand post.
Daniel Croarkin followed suit two minutes later peeling off to head a Lewis Cameron corner kick wide of the same post as Saints continued their pursuit of a second goal.
The home side didn’t have too much longer to wait with the advantage being doubled in the 37th 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.
Unchallenged
The lead was halved just two minutes later when David Wilson was allowed to carry the ball unchallenged along the edge of the Saints box to 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 set to main-