Saturday 16th July 2022
Preseason Friendly
Oban Saints 4 - 0 Oban Saints GG
Glencruitten 1
Mossfield Avenue
Oban
Argyll
PA34 4EB
Kick off 1pm
Referee Mr Martin Rae
A cancellation from scheduled opponents East Kilbride YM saw Oban Saints Manager Ross Maitland turn to his second string counterpart Donald Black to fill the blank in his sides preseason fixture schedule.
Donald and coach Robert Johnson were only too pleased to help out and give their charges a first ninety minutes ahead of the start of their Greater Glasgow Premier Amateur Football League season.
Both sides had players unavailable through injury, holidays and work commitments which presented an ideal opportunity to give some of the club's youth team players a run out on the bigger stage.
Saints lined up with Graham Douglas in goal behind a back four of Ruaridh Horne, Aidan Campbell, Myles McAuley and Cammy Clark. Captain Daniel MacCuish patrolled the area in front of the back four with Gavin Forgrieve and Rory Dowd ahead of him. Kyle Cooper spearheaded the attack flanked by Preston Macintyre and Fraser MacFarlane. On the substitutes bench were Thomas McCrindle. Aidan MacDonald, Aaron McKay and James Muir.
Saints GG had Alex Craik in goal behind a back four of Andy Moore, Ryan Barclay, Ben Forbes and Lewis Campbell. Across the five man midfield were Stewart Twort, Pearce McBeth, Paul Kerr, Keith Millar and Captain Lewis Buchanan with Zander Craik up front. On a very youthful substitutes bench were Oran Bryce, Sean Drummond, Ryan Hill, Owen Lloyd, Matty Pollock and Ross Mackay.
After an even opening fifteen minutes Saints got their noses in front from a good build up on the right. Playing out from the back Aidan Campbell. Ruaridh Horne, Fraser MacFarlane and Gavin Forgrieve were all involved before Forgrieve's cross looking for Kyle Cooper was intercepted by Andy Moore. The GG's right fullback however didn't get the direction he desired on his clearing header which was picked up by Rory Dowd on the edge of the box from where Dowd wasted no time in curling a crisp finish into the postage stamp corner giving GG's keeper Alex Craik no chance.
With veterans Paul Kerr and Keith Millar directing operations the Saints second string were holding their own in the middle of the park and consistently finding lone striker Zander Craik with the out ball. Craik and Skipper Lewis Buchanan both had efforts which only narrowly failed to find the target while at the other end Alex Craik, who had volunteered to deputise for the injured Murdo MacKenzie showed good handling to deal with a number of Saints crosses.
With plenty of options at their disposal the Saints GG management team of Donald Black and Robert Johnstone made their first change after twenty minutes withdrawing Pearce McBeth to make way for Owen Lloyd. The young substitute was quickly involved in the action making a good run to get on the end of a diagonal ball from Lewis Buchanan but dragging his finish just wide of Graham Douglas' left hand post.
Saints Manager Ross Maitland made his first changes just before the half hour mark replacing Fraser MacFarlane and Cammy Clark with Aaron McKay and Thomas McCrindle. McKay's direct style won a free-kick on the edge of the D which Rory Dowd elected to take. Unfortunately Dowd's effort failed to test Alex Craik and sailed high over the crossbar and between the rugby posts behind Craik's goal.
Further changes followed with Aidan MacDonald replacing Preston Macintyre for Saints and Stewart Twort making way for Sean Drummond for Saints GG.
The second string back four of Andy Moore, Ryan Barclay, Ben Forbes and Lewis Campbell were keeping goalkeeper Alex Craik well protected and the veteran defender resisted his natural instinct the head away Gavin Forgrieve's thirty eighth minute corner kick making an impressive clean catch at his front post.
Saints GG continued to make good use of their substitutes bench making early second half changes with Matty Pollock and Oran Bryce replacing Lewis Buchanan and Andy Moore.
Ross Maitland kept up his rolling changes policy sending Cammy Clark and Preston Macintyre back on to give Thomas McCrindle and Kyle Cooper a rest.
The Saints GG preseason preparations are a little behind their first team counterparts and fitness levels began to tell moving into the final third of the match. Preston Macintyre and Gavin Forgrieve both had decent efforts just off target as the pressure increased on the second string back line.
Frustration got the better of Paul Kerr in the seventy third minute with his protests at another perceived injustice from Referee Martin Rae earning him the game's only yellow card.
The personnel changes continued with Ross Mackay and Ryan Hill coming on for Saints GG while first team Gaffer Ross Maitland prepared a landmark change to his line-up. With twenty seven minutes remaining on Mr Rae's watch Maitland sent on his fourteen year-old nephew, James Muir, which would shortly bring to an end the Gaffer's twenty seven year reign as Saints youngest ever goal scorer.
Fittingly Saints youngest ever player Gavin Forgrieve was involved in the build up for Muir's eightieth minute record breaking goal. After patiently probing for an opening on the edge of the GG penalty area Forgrieve found Preston Macintyre who slipped in Muir to steer a low finish across Alex Craik and into the bottom corner.
Just sixty seconds later sharp shooter Muir was on target again exploiting the gaps in the tiring GG defence to find the same bottom corner beyond Craik's despairing left hand.
The previously untried Saints central defensive pairing of Myles McAuley and Aidan Campbell coped well with the threat posed by the lone GG striker Zander Craik and it took until the eighty fifth minute before keeper Graham Douglas faced his first test of the afternoon. Craik peeled away from Campbell and found Matty Pollock in support who chested down Craik's cross and fired in a left foot volley which Douglas held at full stretch to his right.
At the other end Craik senior showed he was no slouch between the posts and got down well to his right to deny Gavin Forgrieve.
Preston Macintyre rounded off the scoring with another good finish well beyond Craik's reach before Referee Rae, who handled proceedings well, brought the good natured contest to an end.
Both management teams can take a lot of positives from the game which remained in the balance until the closing stages. Particularly pleasing for everyone involved with the club was the number of youth team players taking part which bodes well for the future.
Saints hit the road this coming Saturday when they travel to Burnley to face local side Craven FC.
Yorumlar