Saturday 3rd December 2022
The Scottish Amateur Football Association Challenge Cup Competition
Fourth Round
Meadowbank 2 - 2 Oban Saints
Meadowbank Sports Centre
139 - 143 London Road
Edinburgh
EH7 6AE
Kick-off 1pm
Referee Mr Tommy Swan
A dramatic ninety third minute equaliser from hosts Meadowbank stalled Oban Saints progress in the Scottish Amateur Cup at Meadowbank Sports Centre last Saturday afternoon. Strikes from Cammy Hill and Matty Kelly sandwiched a successfully converted penalty kick from Meadowbank top goal scorer Paul Martin with Saints defending doggedly to hold off a late onslaught from the Lothian and Edinburgh Amateur Football Association Premier Division men. However tiring minds and limbs finally gave Meadowbank substitute Martin Cairney an opening which he gratefully accepted to send the fourth round tie to a replay with almost the last kick of the game.
Saints Manager Ross Maitland was dealt a blow when injury forced Myles McAuley to withdraw from the travelling party. Utility man Cammy Clark was given the nod to partner Ben Forbes in central defence where the pair acquitted themselves well against a lively Meadowbank attack.
Saints lined up with Shaun Lockhart in goal behind a back four of Ryan Barclay, Cammy Clark, Ben Forbes and Captain Scott Maitland. Across the four man midfield were Connor Moore, Matty Kelly, Gavin Forgrieve and Cammy Hill with Fraser MacFarlane tucked in behind central striker Kyle Cooper. On the substitutes bench were Ross Campbell, James Conington, Ruaridh Horne and Jack Wright.
Hosts Meadowbank kicked off attacking the Sports Centre end with both sides failing to test the respective goalkeepers with promising early opportunities. Connor Moore shot just wide of Stewart Adams' left hand post before, at the other end, Paul Martin sent a curling effort high and wide of the postage stamp corner.
Scottish Amateur international fullback Aaron Gossman was seeing a lot of the ball on the right for the hosts and his eleventh minute cross deserved a better result when Ross Stenhouse glanced wide of Shaun Lockhart's right hand upright.
Lockhart met Alexander Brown's inswinging delivery from the corner flag with a solid punch which Matty Kelly gathered before sending a ball over the top for Kyle Cooper to chase. Stewart Adams came a long way off his line and made a vital interception to deny the young Saints striker a clear sight of goal.
Paul Martin had the first effort on target after eighteen minutes which Shaun Lockhart did well to push behind for a corner kick giving Alexander Brown another chance to find a Meadowbank head from the corner flag. Brown's left footed inswinger however flashed dangerously across the face of goal evading defenders and attackers alike.
Saints opened the scoring in the thirty second minute with their first effort on target when Cammy Hill cut inside from the right and placed a pinpoint finish in off the foot of Stewart Adams' left hand post.
Connor Moore came off second best in a meaty fortieth minute challenge with Alan Murray which saw the youngster carried off with a nasty looking ankle injury. Saints Gaffer Ross Maitland sent on Ruaridh Horne for his second substitute appearance since returning from a long lay-off in a straight swap on the right of midfield.
An excellent cross field pass from Horne gave Kyle Cooper a shooting opportunity after cutting inside onto his right foot three minutes after the restart. Cooper's strike looked bound for the bottom corner until Alan Murray intervened with a vital sliding block which took the ball behind for a corner kick.
The hosts made their only change of the match in the fifty fourth minute sending on Martin Cairney to replace Abdul Ahrouaz. Cairney made an instant impact when his fifty sixth minute shot struck the arm of Ben Forbes inside the Saints box. Referee Tommy Swan, who handled proceedings well, considered it a case of ball to hand and pointed to the penalty spot. Meadowbank top scorer and last season's player of the year Paul Martin comfortably beat young Saints goalkeeper Shaun Lockhart from twelve yards to level the scoring.
Cammy Clark, who deputised well in central defence for the injured Myles McAuley, twice came close to influencing matters at the other end. After heading a fifty eighth minute Gavin Forgrieve free-kick inches wide of Stewart Adams' right hand post Clark tested the keepers handling with a hook shot from a Forgrieve corner kick on the Saints left.
Saints regained the lead in the sixty third minute when, after good work on the left by Scott Maitland and Kyle Cooper, Matty Kelly collected the ball and made a driving run at the heart of the Meadowbank defence. Kelly showed great poise to evade challenges from Christopher Taylor, Lewis Knox and Alan Murray before clipping the ball beyond Stewart Adams and into the bottom corner of the net.
Saints made a second change before the restart with Jack Wright replacing Ryan Barclay at right fullback.
The home side committed more men to attack in search of an equaliser which left gaps at the back which Saints failed to exploit. Kyle Cooper's pace on the left was a good outlet for the Saints defence and Cammy Hill was inches away from connecting with a seventy sixth minute ball across the six yard box after Cooper had outpaced Lewis Knox.
Ruaridh Horne matched Cooper's endeavour on the right and a lung bursting eighty first minute run earned a corner kick from where Gavin Forgrieve found the head of Cammy Hill who unfortunately couldn't direct his header beneath Stewart Adams' crossbar.
Cooper and Hill were both lost to injury for the closing stages with their places being taken by Ross Campbell and James Conington.
As the clock ticked down the home side threw everything they had into attack including sending goalkeeper Stewart Adams up for set pieces however the Saints defence, with Ben Forbes again a star performer in the middle, stood firm in the face of Meadowbank's push for an equaliser. Shaun Lockhart was well protected by his back four for the most part and when the home side did find a way through Lockhart was equal to the challenge.
Just as it looked as though Saints had done enough to secure the tie Martin Cairney ruthlessly exploited a rare communication breakdown between Lockhart and his defence to nip in force the ball beyond the Saints keeper for deserved and hard fought ninety third minute equaliser.
The two evenly matched combatants will do it all again at Glencruitten this coming Saturday where, if the sides cannot be separated after ninety minutes, a penalty shoot-out will decide who progresses to round five.
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