Ampen the spirits n in Scottish Cup
tain 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. But then Saints delivered a sucker punch to stretch their advantage and regain the initiative.
Threaded
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 visitors’ 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 18-yard box who calmly passed the ball into the unguarded net for Saints third goal.
Matthew Kelly continued his injury recuperation with a 55th 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 the goal to send a stooping header from a 56th minute Lewis Cameron left wing corner kick wide of Daniel Connelly’s right hand post.
Hope
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 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 63rd minute replacement before Thistle struck the woodwork for a second time when Jack Irvine sent a dipping effort from 20 yards onto the top of the crossbar and out for a goal kick.
Saints made a further two changes in the 65th 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 67th minute with Craig MacEwan this time the culprit sending a header from a Lewis Cameron free-kick wide of target.
With 20 minutes remaining Jags striker Sean Cullen, who in the most part had been kept in check by Saints central defensive pair Dene Cassells and Steven MacLeod, made way for the fresh legs of Barry McMullan. This was also the cue for Saints to make their final changes with good shifts from full backs Ruaridh Horne and Scott Maitland being rewarded with the chance to get to the showers early.
Brothers Jamie and Dougal Graham came on as replacements at right and left back respectively.
Lewis Cameron stung the palms of Daniel Connelly with a free kick on 74 minutes which the big keeper couldn’t hold and had to rely on skipper Calum Campbell to thump clear ahead of Craig MacEwan.
The visitors kept plugging away and won a free kick 25 yards from goal in the 75th minute.
Goal scorer David Wilson took responsibility for the set-piece but failed to add to his tally curling his effort well over the crossbar.
Saints rounded off the scoring in the 80th 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.
Ticking over
The Scottish amateur football scene now takes a twoweek break for Christmas and New Year with Saints still going strong in all competitions. However, with three important cup ties to look forward to in January, the Saints management duo of Donald Campbell and Willie Gemmell won’t be resting on their laurels and will be looking at ways of keeping their charges ticking over for a flying start on January 5.
The club would like to take this opportunity to thank their fans and sponsors for their support throughout the year and to wish all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.