Saints Slump To Defeat In Dunblane
- Winning In The Rain
- Sep 7
- 5 min read
Saturday 6th September 2025
Scottish Premier Amateur Football Association
Premiership
Dunblane Soccer Club 5 - 1 Oban Saints
Dunblane High School
Old Doune Road
Dunblane
FK15 9EW
Kick-off 2.00pm
Referee Mr James Montgomery
Oban Saints made their first trip to Dunblane last Saturday to face Scottish Premier Amateur Football Association new boys Dunblane Soccer Club but returned home empty handed on the wrong end of a 5 - 1 score line.
Central defender Ryan Barclay found the net for the second time this season but that was all the visitors had to show for their endeavours while hosts Dunblane were ruthless in exploiting the frailties of the Saints' back line.
Injury, suspension and holidays deprived Management team Steven MacLeod and Graham Douglas of the services of a number of key players however their selection woes were eased slightly by the return of Skipper Scott Maitland and the availability of new signing Roy Garvie.
The enforced personnel reshuffle saw Maitland and Garvie deployed in midfield alongside David Beaton with utility man James Conington joining last season's young player of the year Rhys Millar in attack.
Saints lined up with Craig Maitland in goal behind a back three of Aidan Jackson, Matthew Pollock and Ryan Barclay. In the middle of the park were Captain Scott Maitland, David Beaton Roy Garvie flanked by wingbacks Aaron McKay and Donald Campbell. Up front were James Conington and Rhys Millar. Joining Management team Steven MacLeod and Graham Douglas on the substitutes bench were Shaye Black, Innes Fraser and Keiron Lopez.
There was a warning of things to come for Saints inside the first minute when Jake Wright and Daniel MacLaren combined on the left to set up Lewis Collie for a close-range effort which Craig Maitland in the Saints' goal did well to parry.
The hosts continued to dominate the early exchanges, and it took Saints until the seventh minute to mount their first attack with Scott Maitland, Donald Campbell and James Conington working the ball from left to right for Aaron McKay to send over a dangerous cross cut out at the near post. David Beaton's corner kick was cleared but his second attempt sixty seconds later found James Conington whose header from eight yards out came crashing back off the Dunblane crossbar.
Conington was the intended target for Beaton again in the twelfth minute this time with a deep cross from the left however Dunblane keeper Ben Innes read the danger well to gather at the back post.
At the other end Scott Maitland made an excellent interception to deny Daniel MacLaren a shot on goal from a throw-in on the left and launched a Saints' counterattack which saw Rhys Millar fire a decent effort from twenty yards inches over the Dunblane crossbar.
Ben Innes was on his toes in the twenty-fifth minute racing out to the edge of his eighteen-yard box to smother the ball at the feet of Saints' debutant Roy Garvie who had been sent through by David Beaton.
The deadlock was broken with twenty-six minutes on the clock when Saints were caught napping at a Dunblane throw-in from the left. Centre-forward Lewis Collie made no mistake from the corner of the six-yard box rifling high into the net giving Craig Maitland no chance.
Ben Innes denied Roy Garvie again after Donald Campbell and Rhys Millar linked well on the left teeing Garvie up for a shot from twenty-two yards which the Dunblane keeper required two attempts to get under control.
Ryan Barclay and Donald Campbell found themselves both fighting to get on the end of an Aaron McKay cross from the right. Barclay got his head to the ball with his effort clearing the crossbar when a little more communication would have seen one of the pair make a cleaner contact.
The hosts capitalised on this let-off winning a thirty-eighth minute penalty-kick when Referee James Montgomery penalised Aaron McKay for a challenge on Lewis Collie as the Dunblane marksman fired an effort wide of Craig Maitland's right-hand post. From the penalty spot Skipper Byron McGuigan place the ball into the bottom corner sending Maitland in the wrong direction in the process.
The Saints' number one however fared better five minutes before the half-time whistle standing up well at his near post to block a shot from a suspiciously offside looking Charles Harold.
The interval brought a Saints' personnel change with Keiron Lopez coming on to replace Matty Pollock. Lopez took the right wingback slot with Aaron McKay moving inside and Scott Maitland dropping back into the back three.
Attacking the Old Doune Road end at Dunblane High School Saints had their good start to the second period completely undone by a stray forty-ninth minute pass at the back which was pounced upon by Lewis Collie who slammed past Craig Maitland at his near post.
Straight from the restart Aaron McKay and James Conington combined to send Rhys Millar racing through the inside right channel for a shot which cleared the crossbar by six inches.
McKay and Conington linked up again to force a fifty-first minute corner-kick which the Dunblane defence could only partially clear. The ball eventually found its way back to David Beaton on the right who did well to fire the ball from the goal-line back into the stride of Ryan Barclay who passed the ball into the bottom corner and give Saints a much needed foothold in the game.
Saints made a further change after fifty-three minutes sending on Innes Fraser to replace Donald Campbell in a straight swap at left wingback.
Spurred on by Skipper Scott Maitland, the visitors continued to battle hard for a second goal but were getting no change out the Dunblane back four and goalkeeper who were able to deal with everything Saints could throw at them.
Any feint hopes of a Saints' comeback were extinguished in the seventy-first minute with another largely self-inflicted wound when Joseph Nwokoye was allowed far too much time and space to pick his spot from twenty-two yards and arrow a low shot past Craig Maitland's right hand and into the bottom corner of the net.
The deserved victory for the home side was given a slightly flattering gloss with fifteen minutes remaining when the impressive Joseph Nwokoye picked out Lewis Collie with a low cross from the left which Collie met perfectly to fire the ball back across Craig Maitland and complete his hat-trick.
In Saints' final change Aidan Jackson was forced off with blurred vision to be replaced on the right of the back three by Shaye Black.
Referee James Montgomery, who had a good match, brought proceedings to a close after three added minutes with the win lifting Dunblane to the summit of the Scottish Premier Amateur Football Association Premiership table level on points with reigning champions Steins Thistle
The D&K Lafferty Contractors and MKM Oban Building Supplies sponsored Saints return to Glencruitten this coming Saturday where they will face another tough challenge from league title hopefuls AFC Chryston in a Scottish Premier Amateur Football Association Premiership clash.
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