Saturday 29th October 2022
Central Scottish Amateur Football League
Premier Division
Oban Saints 2 - 1 Gartcosh United
Glencruitten 2
Mossfield Avenue
Oban
Argyll
PA34 4EH
Kick-off 1.30pm
Referee Mr Douglas Gunning
Oban Saints gathered their first Central Scottish Amateur Football League Premier Division points of the season with a hard fought 2 - 1 victory over Gartcosh United at Glencruitten last Saturday afternoon.
One successfully converted first half penalty kick each saw the sides go in level at the break with substitute Cammy Hill snatching a dramatic eighty ninth minute winner to lift Saints of the foot of the league table.
The usual mixture of injuries and unavailability forced Saints Manager Ross Maitland to make a number of changes to the squad which had lost to Drumchapel Amateurs seven days earlier. Out went Gavin Forgrieve, Shaun Lockhart, Daniel MacCuish, Fraser MacFarlane and Jack Wright with James Conington, James Ford, Steven MacLeod and new signing Andrew Mallia all coming in.
Saints lined up with Graham Douglas in goal behind a back four of Cammy Clark, Myles McAuley, Ben Forbes and Captain Scott Maitland. Across the four man midfield were Ross Campbell, Rory Dowd, Matty Kelly and Connor Moore with Lewis Cameron tucked in behind central striker Kyle Cooper. James Ford and Steven MacLeod made welcome returns to the fold to join James Conington, Cammy Hill and Andrew Mallia on the substitutes bench.
The visitors kicked off attacking the car park end and immediately tested Saints stand-in right full back Cammy Clark with a driving run on the left from Ross Fisher culminating in a rasping shot over Graham Douglas' crossbar.
Gartcosh continued their bright start with central defender Colin Galbraith making a good near post run to head a third minute Nico Petrucci free-kick from the right just off target.
At the other end Saints brought Gartcosh keeper Stuart Wilson into the action to safely gather a Kyle Cooper header from a Lewis Cameron free-kick after Matty Kelly had been brought down midway inside opposition territory.
An end-to-end spell saw corner kicks at both ends successfully defended with Myles McAuley's tenth minute clearing header launching a Saints counterattack where Connor Moore's run and cross from the left was agonisingly out of reach for Ross Campbell racing in at the back post.
Moore did well to beat Jack Trainer on the left and pick out Lewis Cameron for a fifteenth minute shot just wide of Stuart Wilson's right hand post.
Matty Kelly's eighteenth minute foul on Nico Petrucci gave the Gartcosh dangerman a dead ball opportunity twenty seven yards from goal which Graham Douglas, at full stretch, watched bounce wide of target.
Two minutes later Scott Maitland's left wing run and cross was punched away by Stuart Wilson with Rory Dowd quickly onto the loose ball to tee up Lewis Cameron for a left foot shot which Wilson saved well low to his left.
The visitors were forced into a twenty seventh minute change when injury saw Callum Galloway depart with Daniel Kinlan taking his place in midfield.
Kinlan and Nico Petrucci both placed headers from Bradley Renfrew set pieces wide of target for Gartcosh while at the other end Connor Moore had a good sighting of goal but failed to seriously test Stuart Wilson with a tame efort from eighteen yards.
The deadlock was broken in the thirty fifth minute when Myles McAuley slipped and collided with Bradley Renfrew just inside the Saints box. Graham Douglas read Nico Petrucci's intentions well and got down well to his left but the former Eastfield man's penalty kick had too much power and nestled in the bottom corner.
Immediately from the restart Referee Dougie Gunning evened up the penalty count with another straightforward decision when Jack Trainer sent Lewis Cameron sprawling in the Gartcosh box. As Mr Gunning added Trainer's name to that of Myles McAuley in his notebook Cameron dusted himself down and beat his former Scottish Amateur international team-mate Stuart Wilson from the spot to level the scoring.
Kyle McLachlan's late lunge on Lewis Cameron earned the Gartcosh midfielder a forty first minute yellow card from Mr Gunning who handled proceedings well.
Connor Moore did well again on the left just before the interval sending over a deep cross which Ross Campbell headed back into the path of Rory Dowd for a volley which Stuart Wilson held comfortably.
Two important clearances from Ben Forbes repelled Nico Petrucci corner kicks before Graham Douglas gathered a looping ball into the box under pressure from Dean Morgan as the visitors made a strong start to the second half.
Gartcosh made a double substitution in the fifty second minute replacing Jack Trainer and Jordan Wood with Scott Starrs and Logan Kelly. Substitute Starrs was inches off target with a low sixtieth minute shot after a driving run from the centre circle.
Ross Campbell, who impressed on his home debut, made way for Cammy Hill after sixty two minutes with the tall replacement's first involvement being to head a Lewis Cameron free-kick from the right wide of target at the back post.
Changes from both sides followed in the sixty fifth minute with James Ford replacing Connor Moore for Saints while Kyle McLachlan made way for PJ McAvoy for the visitors.
Gartcosh continued to ask most of the second half questions but the Saints back four of Cammy Clark, Myles McAuley, Ben Forbes and Scott Maitland offered good protection for goalkeeper Graham Douglas. When the defence was breached by a Nico Petrucci shot Douglas could only parry Petrucci's effort before recovering well to smoother the loose ball at Logan Kelly's feet.
Ben Forbes' tightening hamstrings saw him replaced in central defence by James Conington for the final fifteen minutes. Conington found the head of Kyle Cooper with a flighted eighty second minute free-kick which Cooper could only glance into the gloves of Stuart Wilson with Cammy Hill waiting to pounce.
Cammy Clark acquitted himself well in an unfamiliar right back role with two vital challenges on the lively Logan Kelly helping to keep the visitors at bay.
James Ford's eighty fifth minute shot was deflected off target for a Lewis Cameron corner kick which Stuart Wilson cleared with a decisive punch as both sides failed to conjure up a killer blow.
As the clock ticked into the eighty ninth minute Lewis Cameron, Kyle Cooper and James Ford combined well on the left to finally open up the Gartcosh defence for Cammy Hill to race through one-on-one with Stuart Wilson. The big striker held his nerve to skip round the keeper and roll the ball into the unguarded net ahead of a last-ditch tackle from Dean Morgan.
James Ford saw another shot from the edge of the box deflected wide as Saints looked to guard their precious lead by playing as much of the five added minutes as possible in the Gartcosh half. Mr Gunning's final whistle finally calmed the nerves on the side lines confirming a first home league win for Saints and sending the Glencruitten faithful home happy.
The Scottish Amateur Cup reaches the third round stage this coming Saturday and Saints face the difficult prospect of a visit to North Lanarkshire to face Wishaw Wycombe Wanderers of the Caledonian League Premier Division.
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