Saints lose out in nine-goal thriller
Oban Saints returned to action last Saturday after a five-week lay-off with a trip to Barlia to face high-flying Castlemilk Dynamo in their penultimate match of the Central Scottish Amateur Football League Premier Division season.
The lack of available numbers which has plagued Saints’ season continued once again but on a more positive note Martin Bonar, James Ford and Connor Moore made welcome returns while Craig Maitland on his first team debut incredibly became Saints’ seventh goalkeeper of the season.
Despite Saints losing out by the odd goal in nine Maitland had a solid debut and will be a good addition to the first team squad.
Saints kicked off in bright sunshine attacking the Barlia Street end and were quickly on the attack. James Ford made good progress on the left wing and picked out Gavin Forgrieve with a cutback to the edge of the 18 yard box. Forgrieve’s low shot looked to be heading towards the bottom corner until big centre-half Wullie Hewitt stuck out his right boot to make a vital interception and deny Saints a perfect start.
The home side opened the scoring in just the third minute when Gregg Twaddle ran off Ross Campbell to meet Thomas McCluskey’s right wing cross and slam the ball past Craig Maitland.
Dynamo were given the chance to extend their lead from the penalty spot when Ben Forbes was adjudged to have controlled a bouncing ball with his arm. Craig Maitland however correctly read the intentions of Mark Blakey and dived to his right to stop the left full back’s 15th minute spot kick.
Saints drew level in the 21st minute from a throw-in won by Connor Moore on the right. Gavin Forgrieve gathered in Ross Campbell’s throw and picked out Scott Maitland cutting in from the left. Maitland let fly from 25 yards with his blocked shot breaking kindly for Rory Dowd who steered the loose ball across Stuart Colins and into the bottom corner.
Saints conceded a second penalty kick for a hand-ball offence with Myles McAuley this time the miscreant. Dean McGinnity assumed the responsibility for the kick but rattled the crossbar with his attempt from 12 yards.
Martin Bonar found his way into referee Kevin O’Neil’s notebook for bringing down Alan Semple just one yard short of the Saints box. Having previously seen his effort from the penalty spot saved by Craig Maitland, Mark Blakey made no mistake from 19 yards leaving the young Saints keeper rooted to the spot with a perfectly executed left foot free-kick to make the half time score 2-1.
Mr O’Neil pointed to the penalty spot for the third time when Ben Forbes’ mistimed challenge sent Alan Semple sprawling in the box. It was a case of third time lucky for the hosts with Thomas McCluskey sending Craig Maitland in the wrong direction.
Dynamo keeper Stuart Collins was called into action for the hosts saving first from James Ford before throwing himself to his right to push a Rory Dowd shot from a Scott Maitland left wing cutback behind for a corner kick. Gavin Forgrieve placed his inswinger from the left under the crossbar where the combined efforts of Dominic Larkin and Wullie Hewitt couldn’t prevent the ball from crossing the line to bring Saints back into contention.
Cammy Clark replaced the injured Ben Forbes in central defence for the closing 25 minutes.
James Ford sent Connor Moore through on goal in the 68th minute but he took the ball too close to Stuart Collins allowing the Dynamo keeper to make the interception.
Saints were left to rue this missed opportunity when a simple through ball from the hosts caught out the Saints defence and was smashed past Craig Maitland by Dean McGinnity.
Saints however refused to give up and a delightful curling effort from James Ford brought them right back into contention with ten minutes remaining.
Ford repeated the feat with an even better effort two minutes later. After an excellent turn on the corner of the 18 yard box Ford deftly lifted the ball over the head of the Dynamo keeper to level the scores at 4-4.
As the game drew to a close Dynamo second half substitute Samuel Edun was afforded too much time to measure a cross from the right which was cushioned back across Craig Maitland and into the net by fellow substitute Gavin MacLeod to make the score 5-4.
Connor Moore had a giltedged chance to snatch a dramatic late equaliser. Gavin Forgrieve’s through ball from a throw-in on the left sent Moore one-on-one with the goalkeeper but the young Saints striker snatched his left foot finish just wide of target.
The drama didn’t end there and in the fourth minute of added time referee O’Neil denied Saints what appeared to be a stone wall penalty kick when Dynamo goalkeeper Stuart Collins impeded Scott Maitland in the box, instead pointing to the corner flag. Gavin Forgrieve was inches away from replicating his earlier trick with his in-swinging corner kick this time landing squarely on top of the crossbar before Mr O’Neil blew the full time whistle.
Despite the defeat manager Ross Maitland was happy with the fighting spirit shown by his players and thought they should have got something from the game.
Saints have no fixture this coming Saturday and will complete their season on Saturday 27 May with an away game at Eastgate against Gartcosh United.
Oban Saints GG
Oban Saints second team played their last home game of the season when they took on Glasgow Harp 2nds at the Oban Community 3G pitch. Unfortunately injuries played a part in a 2-1 defeat as they had to play with only ten men in the second half as they had used their allocation of substitutes.
Oban Saints Youths
Oban Saints Under 16s reached the semi-final of the League Cup with a 7-0 win away to Knightswood. Scoring for Saints were James Muir (3), Cody McCulloch (2), Rhys Millar and Owen Lloyd.
Glasgow Athletic Blacks Under 14s 0. 8,