Moore Hat-trick Seals Long Awaited Saints' Victory

Saturday 7th December 2024

Scottish Premier Amateur Football Association

Premiership

King's Park Rangers 1 - 3 Oban Saints

Toryglen Regional Football Centre

480 Prospecthill Road

Glasgow

G42 0BY

Kick-off 2.15 pm

Referee Mr Tony McCann

A hat-trick from leading goal-scorer Connor Moore helped end Oban Saints' long winless streak in a gutsy performance at Toryglen last Saturday afternoon. The D&K Lafferty Contractors and MKM Oban Building Supplies sponsored Saints had just eleven players available for the trip to Glasgow and had to dig deep to see off old rivals King's Park Rangers.

The treble from Moore had Saints ahead at the interval but an injury for Craig Livingstone and the dismissal of Matty Pollock made for a difficult second period against the hosts with whom Saints have a rivalry spanning almost fifty years.

Manager Ross Maitland continued his tour of duty on the Isle of Colonsay so Assistant Manager Iain Jackson remained in charge ably supported on the touchline by Club Secretary David Buchanan,

Jackson's already limited options were further stretched by eleventh hour illness related withdrawals by Oran Bryce and Fraser MacFarlane leaving just eleven players including new signing Louie MacFarlane who returns to the club to help out during the shinty closed season.

With Captain Scott Maitland and Vice-Captain Gavin Forgrieve both unavailable the armband was handed to Ruaridh Horne for the day and the stand-in Skipper produced a solid display alongside Aidan Jackson and Shaye Black at the heart of the Saints' defence.

Saints lined up with Graham Douglas in goal behind a back three of Shaye Black, Captain Ruaridh Horne and Aidan Jackson. Across the five-man midfield were Craig Livingstone, Keiran Griffin, Matty Pollock, Louie MacFarlane and Keiron Lopez with Connor Moore and Rhys Millar up front.

Kick-off was delayed while both sets of players waited patiently for the arrival of Referee Tony McCann from an earlier fixture at nearby Barlia. In his journey plans Mr McCann clearly didn't allow for the volume of traffic heading to Celtic Park for the Hoops' clash with Hibernian but, thankfully, he resisted the temptation to join the green and white throng and eventually arrived at Toryglen to get the action underway fifteen minutes late.

Saints had the strong Storm Darragh wind at their backs in the first half which was just two minutes old when Connor Moore cut inside from the right before firing a powerful left-foot shot into the postage stamp corner.

Wind assisted off-target efforts from Matty Pollock followed as Saints kept the hosts camped in their own half before a tight offside decision from Referee McCann, who handled proceedings well, ruled out a good finish from Rhys Millar.

Having opened his goalscoring account the previous week against Third Lanark, Keiran Griffin had a glorious opportunity to make it two-in-two but guided a free header from a tenth minute Connor Moore free-kick over the crossbar from six yards range.

The King's Park defence were struggling to deal with Connor Moore's pace and when Moore raced away from Patrick Findlay in the twenty-third minute Derek Archibald's last-ditch attempt to stop Moore saw Referee McCann correctly point to the penalty spot. With regular penalty taker David Beaton unavailable Moore accepted the responsibility and make no mistake from twelve yards to double Saints' advantage.

Louie MacFarlane's combative style is a welcome addition to the Saints midfield however less welcome was the forehead he planted on Matty Pollock's cheekbone when the two went for the same twenty-third minute high-ball. The stricken Pollock required a spell on the side-line to recover however, on his return to the action, he continued his shoot on site policy and shaved a coat of paint from the outside of Bradley Main's right-hand post with a dipping thirty-fourth minute effort.

Two minutes later Craig Livingstone, who was enjoying his flying right wingback role mysteriously collapsed in agony with what transpired to be a detached big toenail. Despite being down to ten men again Saints maintained the upper hand and further extended their advantage when Moore again showed the home defence a clean pair of heels before rounding Bradley Main and rolling the ball into the unguarded net to complete his hat-trick.

There looked to be no way Livingstone could continue however Iain Jackson unlocked his inner chiropodist effecting a temporary repair which allowed Livingstone to re-join the action albeit as a rather static presence up front.

On the stroke of half-time Matty Pollock's late challenge on Kyle Reid earned the Saints midfielder a yellow card which would later turn out to be costly.

The wind advantage passed to King's Park Rangers for the second period to which the hosts made the perfect start with a goal five minutes after the restart. Saints were caught napping at a throw-in on the right level with their own eighteen-yard line. King's Park dangerman Kyle Reid was afforded space and time on the edge of the Saints box to measure a low drive into the bottom corner.

The goal gave the hosts a massive confidence boost and Lewis Ross came within a matter of inches of pulling another goal back in the fifty-ninth minute when he lifted a shot just over the Saints crossbar after cheaply conceded possession midway inside the Saints half.

Saints' keeper Graham Douglas was nursing an injured elbow but that didn't stop him making two excellent saves from Kyle Reid inside a frantic five-minute period where the hosts increased the tempo in search of a second goal.

Effectively already down to ten men due to Craig Livingstone's injury, Saints were dealt a further blow when Matty Pollock's yellow card for a late sixty-sixth minute challenge on Kyle Reid was quickly followed by a red card from Referee McCann.

The beleaguered Saints defended doggedly refusing to allow the hosts to capitalise on their numerical advantage. As the match entered the closing stages Graham Douglas saved again from Kyle Reid tipping over Reid's shot on the spin for an eighty-seventh minute corner-kick on the King's Park right.

Ivan Rahman sent an effort over the crossbar before Mr McCann brought the action to an end immediately following a Lewis Ross header over the Saints' crossbar from a Derek Archibald free-kick on the King's Park right.

Saints play their final fixture of 2024 this coming Saturday when they welcome AFC Chryston to Glencruitten in the Scottish Premier Amateur Football Association Premiership.