D&K Lafferty Cup 2026 Round-up
- Winning In The Rain
- Jul 5
- 8 min read
The Oban Saints preseason tournament sponsored by D&K Lafferty Contractors defied miserable weather conditions to produce an excellent day of football at Mossfield Stadium and Oban Lorne Rugby Club last Saturday 4th July. The 30th playing of Oban Saints flagship event once again welcomed a large crowd of locals and visitors who were treated to a high standard of football despite the decidedly soggy conditions.
The hosts were joined on this occasion by cup holders Kilmarnock and tournament regulars Dundee United. Livingston returned after a two-year absence while Partick Thistle and Queen's Park made their second consecutive appearances. The familiar tournament format saw the teams play each other once in matches lasting thirty minutes.
Tournament organiser and Oban Saints Secretary David Buchanan was delighted to confirm that shirt sponsor D&K Lafferty Contractors had agreed to continue their sponsorship of the club's flagship event. D&K Lafferty are fantastic supporters of local sport, and everybody connected with Oban Saints was pleased to see them rewarded with the wide exposure that sponsorship of this prestigious tournament offers.
In addition to the generosity of D&K Lafferty, Mr Buchanan was also pleased to announce the continuing support of joint kit sponsors MKM Building Supplies Oban who will feature on the club's new kit to be unveiled shortly.
The tournament was well handled by Referees Donald McCallum, Kevin McIntyre and Tony McCann who oversaw fifteen excellent matches played in good but competitive spirit. Partick Thistle's impressive run of four successive victories and one draw edged out fellow unbeaten side Queen's Park and eventual runners-up Kilmarnock to see their name engraved on the handsome trophy for the first time.
P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Points | |
Partick Thistle | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 1 | +9 | 13 |
Kilmarnock | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 10 |
Queen's Park | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 9 |
Livingston | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 4 | -2 | 6 |
Dundee United | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 7 | -3 | 2 |
Oban Saints | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 10 | -7 | 1 |
Injuries and holidays deprived Saints' Gaffer Steven MacLeod of the services of a number of key players leaving just nine of the previous year's squad available for selection. A free date for Oban Camanachd however allowed shinty boys Daniel MacCuish, Louie MacFarlane and Daniel MacVicar to help out. Saints' long held tradition of blooding youngsters at this event continued with 2010 year group starlets Charlie Blair, Finn Clarke, Joe Hill, Archie Lewis, Innes McKinney and Ruari Macleod all receiving well deserved call-ups.
Oban Saints Squad
David Beaton
Connor Beattie
Charlie Blair
Donald Campbell
Finn Clark
James Conington
Keiran Griffin
Joe Hill
Ryan Hill
Archie Lewis
Craig Livingstone
Craig Maitland
Scott Maitland
Daniel MacCuish
Louie MacFarlane
Preston Macintyre
Aaron McKay
Innes McKinney
Ruari Macleod
Daniel MacVicar
Matthew Pollock
Kuba Ryszka
Rhys Walker
Kick off 11.00am
Mossfield - Oban Saints 0 - 3 Partick Thistle
Hosts Oban Saints and Partick Thistle kicked off the action on pitch 1 where the Jags laid down an early tournament marker with an impressive victory. After an even first half Thistle profited shortly after the break from a generously awarded penalty kick which was ruthlessly despatched by Kyle Murray.
With the opening goal under their belts Thistle took control of the match with Daniel Gray adding a second knocking home at the back post after Craig Maitland had parried a crisp shot from the left edge of his eighteen-yard box.
In the final minute of an eye-catching performance Gray added a third waltzing through the Saints' defence before slotting past Maitland.
Kick off 11.00am
Glencruitten - Livingston 0 - 1 Kilmarnock
On pitch 2, cup holders Kilmarnock began their quest for back-to-back tournament wins with a one-nil victory over Livingston courtesy of a Max McNally strike.
Kick off 11.45 am
Mossfield - Queen's Park 2 - 2 Dundee United
Four-time winners Dundee United continued their long association with the tournament and, together with Queen's Park, joined the action for the 1145 kick-off at Mossfield. The Arabs and the Spiders kept the supporters sheltering from the rain in the grandstand richly entertained in a thrilling encounter which saw four goals shared equally.
Kick off 11.45 am
Glencruitten - Kilmarnock 2 - 1 Oban Saints
Saints crossed the footbridge to pitch 2 for their second match where they faced cup holders Kilmarnock. The hosts made a good start and were denied an opener when Matty Pollock, Aaron McKay and David Beaton combined to set Preston Macintyre up for a shot which the Killie keeper did well to tip over for a corner kick.
The good early work from Saints was undone in the eleventh minute when they switched off at a corner kick which was taken short to Archie Traynor who raced into the eighteen-yard box and planted a low shot into the bottom corner beyond Craig Maitland's left hand.
Saints regrouped for the second period and came close again when a curling David Beaton shot from the left shaved a coat of paint from the top of the Kilmarnock crossbar.
Beaton was involved again with a twenty-third minute corner kick from the right which was met perfectly by Louie MacFarlane whose header was acrobatically saved by the Killie keeper for another corner. Beaton and MacFarlane repeated the trick with MacFarlane this time glancing his header wide of target. Saints however kept the pressure on and, when the ball was retrieved from the left, Beaton's chested knock down was fired into the net from eighteen yards by Kuba Ryszka.
Parity unfortunately lasted barely ninety seconds and Killie restored their lead when Kai Black pounced at the back post when Saints failed to deal with a low cross from the right. The win gave Killie early favourites status and left Saints propping up the table.
Kick off 12.30pm
Mossfield - Livingston 0 - 1 Queen's Park
Livingston's disappointing return to the tournament continued with another single goal defeat this time to Queen's Park. The Lions were indebted to their goalkeeper for a second half penalty save but were beaten at the death by a determined Spiders side when Kayden Adams bundled the ball home at the back post with the last kick of the game.
Kick off 12.30pm
Glencruitten - Dundee United 0 - 1 Partick Thistle
In a carbon copy from the result in last year's tournament a second consecutive clean sheet for Partick Thistle helped them overcome Dundee United with a solitary second-half Daniel Gray strike proving the difference.
Kick off 1.15pm
Mossfield - Queen's Park 0 - 0 Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock's winning streak was halted by Queen's Park in the 1.15 kick-off at Mossfield where it was a case of defences on top in a goalless encounter.
Kick off 1.15pm
Glencruitten - Oban Saints 1 - 1 Dundee United
Hosts Oban Saints remained at Glencruitten for their third outing where they registered their only point of the day against Dundee United. Once again a promising start from the home side came to nothing when Yiosa Aigbekaen opened the scoring for the Tangerine Terrors on the stroke of half-time after Daniel MacCuish and Louie MacFarlane had both come close for Saints.
Saints worked hard in the second half and deserved their slice of good fortune when David Beaton's free kick from the left deceived everybody, including the Dundee United keeper, and bounced into the net to secure a share of the points.
Kick off 2.00pm
Mossfield - Partick Thistle 2 - 0 Livingston
There was a symmetry about the 2pm encounter at Mossfield where three wins out of three for Partick Thistle made it three defeats out of three for Livingston who, despite playing well, just couldn't make the breakthrough they craved.
Kick off 2.00pm
Glencruitten - Queen's Park 3 - 1 Oban Saints
Queen's Park kept themselves in contention for the silverware with a win over Oban Saints in the 2pm kick-off at Glencruitten. The Spiders made most of the early running and deservedly opened the scoring after thirteen minutes when Saints failed to close down Joe Lafferty who rifled into the net from a free kick on the right.
Two minutes into the second half Saints stood off their man again allowing Valentino Taous all the time he needed to measure a shot high past Craig Maitland and double the Spiders' lead.
Saints responded with a rare but well taken goal from Craig Livingstone who read David Beaton's intentions well to get on the end of Beaton's quickly taken free kick while the Spiders continued to dispute the award with Referee Kevin McIntyre.
There was, however, to be no equaliser for Saints and Queen's Park made the points safe with an excellent strike from distance from Jay Hawkey.
Kick off 2.45pm
Mossfield - Kilmarnock 0 - 3 Partick Thistle
In stark contrast to their goal-shy performance in last year's tournament, Partick Thistle continued their march to the top of the goalscoring charts with a resounding three-nil victory over cup holders Kilmarnock. Chris Mackay and Jack Bell were on target for the Jags before an unfortunate own goal from a Killie defender rounded off the scoring.
Not content with the top goal scorer's title, Partick Thistle also had their eyes on the prize for the meanest defence and made it four consecutive clean sheets thanks in no small part to an excellent flying second half save from goalkeeper Lewis Sloan.
Kick off 2.45pm
Glencruitten - Livingston 1 - 0 Dundee United
Livingston finally discovered their scoring touch in the 2.45 kick-off at Glencruitten but left it late in a very even contest with Dundee United. Another blank looked on the cards for the Lions until a late strike wrong footed the United keeper to claim all three points.
Kick off 3.30pm
Mossfield- Dundee United 1 - 2 Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock made a winning end to their ultimately unsuccessful defence of the D&K Lafferty Cup with a 2 - 1 victory over Dundee United in the 3.30pm kick off at Mossfield. Despite defeat in their final game Dundee United's earlier draws with Queen's Park and Oban Saints were enough to keep them off the foot of the league table.
Kick off 3.30pm
Glencruitten - Partick Thistle 1 - 1 Queen's Park
Four wins from four had already confirmed Partick Thistle as champions but it remained to be seen if they could make it a perfect five with zero goals conceded. A.J. Doyle's opener for Queen's Park denied the Jags five clean sheets and, when Referee Donald McCallum pointed to the penalty spot it looked like Thistle would also fail to maintain their unbeaten run. Goalkeeper Oliver Fisher however had other ideas and produced an excellent flying save to his right to frustrate the Spiders.
Fittingly it was Player of the Tournament Daniel Gray who had the last say cementing his place as top goal scorer with his fifth strike of the day to ensure the Jags finished undefeated.
Kick off 4.15pm
Mossfield- Livingston 1 - 0 Oban Saints
Livingston and Saints rounded off the action at Mossfield where all six of the Saints youth contingent featured. Rhys Walker also came in to take the gloves from Craig Maitland and impressed with a string of excellent saves. Skipper Scott Maitland kept up his record of playing every minute but, despite his efforts and Walker's heroics, Saints couldn't keep the young Lions at bay and Rylie Waugh's tenth minute strike consigned Saints to a fourth defeat.
Despite finishing bottom of the table, Saints Manager Steven MacLeod will be delighted with the effort shown by his players especially the 2010 year group who will now be pushing for inclusion on a more regular basis.
Presentation
With the action over, tournament organiser David Buchanan commenced the presentation ceremony by thanking Argyll & Bute Council Groundsmen Iain Hay, George Paterson and William Macadam for their hard work in preparing the pitches so well in such challenging conditions.
Mr Buchanan then thanked D&K Lafferty Contractors for their generosity in sponsoring the event, participants Dundee United, Kilmarnock, Livingston, Queen's Park and Partick Thistle for their continuing support and finally the faithful supporters who had braved the typically Scottish summer weather.
Mr Buchanan was then joined by ever present away day supporter Mrs Frances Black who handed out winners' medals to the Partick Thistle players. Jags' striker Daniel Gray was then presented with the Player of the Tournament award before the handsome D&K Cup trophy was handed over to the Partick Thistle Captain.
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