Saturday 17th September 2022
West of Scotland Amateur Cup
First Round
Bellfield 0 - 5 Oban Saints
Bellfield Boys Club
Struthers Park
Newmill Road
Kilmarnock
KA1 3JB
Kick-off 2pm
Referee Mr Jim Nicholas
Oban Saints booked their place in the West of Scotland Amateur Cup second round draw with a convincing victory in Kilmarnock last Saturday afternoon. The immaculately prepared grass surface at Struthers Park, home of Bellfield Boys Club, was the venue for the first round clash with a young Bellfield Amateurs team where strikes from Lewis Cameron, Rory Dowd and Connor Moore, along with a brace from Kyle Cooper saw Saints comfortably through.
Despite still missing a number of players through injury and work commitments Saints Manager Ross Maitland was able to name his strongest squad of the season so far for the trip to face the Ayrshire Amateur Football Association Division Two men.
Saints lined up with Graham Douglas in goal behind a back four of Jack Wright, Myles McAuley, Ben Forbes and Captain Scott Maitland. Across the five man midfield were Cammy Hill, Matty Kelly, Daniel MacCuish, Rory Dowd and Lewis Cameron with Kyle Cooper the lone striker. On the substitutes bench were Ross Campbell, Cammy Clark, Gavin Forgrieve, Connor Moore and Fraser MacFarlane.
On the sound of Referee Jim Nicholas' whistle both sets of players and officials observed a silence of remembrance for Her Majesty The Queen whose passing had lead to the cancellation of the previous weekend's fixture card.
Bellfield kicked off with the strong wind at their backs however it was Saints who were first the threaten with Daniel MacCuish flashing a front post header from a Lewis Cameron free-kick over the home crossbar.
Saints opened the scoring in the sixth minute after good battling from Rory Dowd won possession midway inside the Bellfield half. Dowd played the ball out to Lewis Cameron on the left who jinked his way into the box and, from a tight angle, lifted the ball over the advancing Bellfield keeper and into the net.
Bellfield responded with right winger Samuel Tekel launching a deep free-kick from the half-way line which Jack Wright headed away at the back post before chasing an Ethan Allan through ball which Graham Douglas anticipated well to gather on the edge of his eighteen yard box.
Saints doubled their advantage after fifteen minutes when Matty Kelly made a driving run on the right and sent a cutback to Kyle Cooper who held off the challenge of Bellfield Skipper Shay Cassidy before firing past keeper Craig Cassells from fourteen yards range.
Graham Douglas showed good handling to clutch another deep free-kick from the right boot of Shay Cassidy before launching a swift counter-attack on the left. Scott Maitland and Lewis Cameron combined well before Jack Wotherspoon brought the move to an end hauling Cammy Hill to the ground which earned the Bellfield defender the game's first yellow card.
From the resulting free-kick Lewis Cameron picked out Kyle Cooper in the box with the young striker finding Cammy Hill with a lay-off for a shot from eighteen yards which only narrowly cleared the crossbar.
The hosts had the ball in the net in the twenty fifth minute when Graham Douglas misjudged the flight of a wind assisted Shay Cassidy free-kick however Referee Jim Nicholas, who had a good game, correctly ruled out the strike from Robbie Walsh for offside.
Cammy Hill passed up a glorious opportunity to add to the scoring in the fortieth minute delaying his finish from an excellent Lewis Cameron diagonal ball too long allowing Craig Cassells to narrow the angle and make a good save.
Jack Wright's marauding run on the right opened up a forty third minute shooting opportunity for Lewis Cameron with Jack Wotherspoon making a timely interception to divert Cameron's shot behind for a corner kick. The Bellfield defence could only partially clear Cameron's delivery from the right and when Myles McAuley played the ball back into the danger area Kyle Cooper fired off a hook shot which was too hot for keeper Cassells to handle.
On the stroke of half-time Lewis Cameron smacked the face of the Bellfield crossbar with a well struck free-kick from the corner of the box sending Saints into the interval with a three goal advantage.
Already facing an uphill struggle in the second half the hosts made their task even more difficult when a moment of indiscipline from Skipper Shay Cassidy had Referee Jim Nicholas reaching for his red card after just five minutes. Matty Kelly had done well to head away a Samuel Tekel corner kick at the front post and when Scott Maitland sent Kyle Cooper racing into the Bellfield half Cassidy sent Cammy Hill crashing to the ground in an off the ball incident which saw his team reduced to ten men.
Saints Gaffer Ross Maitland made a double change in the fifty fifth minute replacing Daniel MacCuish and Cammy Hill with Gavin Forgrieve and Connor Moore before an injury to Kyle Cooper three minutes later saw Fraser MacFarlane sent on as his replacement.
The ten men of Bellfield kept plugging away but found the Saints back four with Myles McAuley and Ben Forbes at it's heart in no mood to concede.
Lewis Cameron and Gavin Forgrieve both curled decent efforts just wide of the postage stamp corner before Connor Moore blasted a left foot volley wide of target after good work on the right by Jack Wright.
Matty Kelly made way for Cammy Clark with twenty minutes remaining and the substitute made an instant impact forcing Craig Cassells into an excellent save low to his left to push Clark's shot from thirty yards behind for a corner kick. Fraser MacFarlane made a good run to the front post to meet Lewis Cameron's delivery from the corner flag however his header lacked the power or direction to trouble the Bellfield keeper.
New signing Ross Campbell was given a fifteen minute run out as a direct replacement for Jack Wright at right fullback.
Lewis Cameron and Cammy Clark both came close to adding to the scoring before Rory Dowd netted a fourth with five minutes remaining. Gavin Forgrieve's corner kick from the right was blocked at the front post but returned with interest by Lewis Cameron who found the forehead of Rory Dowd who guided his header past Craig Cassells.
A delightful eighty seventh minute turn in the Bellfield box from Gavin Forgrieve invitingly tee'd up Connor Moore unfortunately the young striker couldn't generate the power in his shot to test the keeper.
With two minutes left on the watch Cammy Clark had the ball in the Bellfield net however Referee Nicholas correctly adjudged Clark to have strayed offside.
Saints kept up the pressure on the home goal right to the death with Connor Moore making a driving run on the right before firing off a low left foot shot which Craig Cassells did well to turn behind for a corner kick. Rory Dowd made a run to the front post to meet Lewis Cameron's delivery from the right and deftly flicked the ball on for Conner Moore who tucked it away from close range to complete the scoring.
Saints have no fixture this coming weekend due to the September weekend holiday but will be back on the road again on Saturday 1st October to face Bervie Caledonian of the Aberdeenshire Amateur Football Association Division One (North) in the second round of the Scottish Amateur Cup.
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