Young Saints Schooled By Former Pupils
- Winning In The Rain
- Apr 27
- 4 min read
Saturday 26th April 2025
Scottish Premier Amateur Football Association
Premiership
Oban Saints 1 - 4 Greenock High School Former Pupils
Glencruitten 2
Mossfield Avenue
Oban
Argyll
PA34 4EH
Kick-off 2.oopm
Referee Mr Jimmy Litster
Ross Maitland's young Oban Saints side were outgunned by experienced campaigners Greenock High School Former Pupils at Glencruitten last Saturday afternoon. With eleven senior players unavailable the Gaffer had yet again to rely on his youngsters who put in a brave performance against an impressive Greenock side who took all three points to maintain their interest at the top of the Scottish Premier Amateur Football Association Premiership table.
The lack of available numbers saw Manager Ross Maitland turn to veteran Myles McAuley who answered the call to add some much-needed experience to the youth filled ranks. Seasoned goalkeeper Graham Douglas and Captain for the day Ben Forbes joined McAuley in producing solid performances to steer their young team ates through a difficult afternoon,
Saints lined up with Graham Douglas in goal behind a back four of Shaye Black, Myles McAuley, Captain Ben Forbes and Keiran Griffin. Across the midfield were Keiron Lopez, Aaron McKay, Alec McInroy and Donald Campbell with Fraser MacFarlane and Rhys Millar up front. On the substitutes bench were Connor Beattie, Oran Bryce, Innes Fraser and Ross Maitland.
The visitors kicked off attacking the car park end and were quick to stamp their authority on the game which was only six minutes old when the deadlock was broken. Central midfielder Donald Watt was allowed far too much time and space to carry the ball forward and pick his spot low past Graham Douglas' right hand.
Greenock looked for more and regained possession from the restart with Ewan McIlkenny, Ryan Dickson and David Grant linking well to send McIlkenny through on goal. Graham Douglas however was quick to react and saved bravely at McIlkenny's feet.
Douglas saved another Donald Watt effort before Greenock's top marksman David Grant spun in behind the Saints defence and squeezed a shot inches wide of Graham Douglas' left hand post.
Saints' youngster Donald Campbell continues to grow at this level and showed great anticipation in the twenty-third minute to intercept a pass across the Greenock back four and race through on goal. Taking his shot early Campbell drew a good save from keeper Declan Tinney who got down well to his left to safely gather Campbell's effort.
Prolific Greenock centre-forward David Grant, who strangely does not currently feature in Scottish Amateur Select Manager Colin MacLeod's plans, continued to give Ben Forbes and Myles McAuley a thorough examination and was again able to get a shot away which this time Graham Douglas pushed away to his left.
Myles McAuley's vital thirty-seventh minute block sent another Grant effort wide of target with Aaron McKay rising well to head away Ben Eardley's corner-kick.
Saints finished the half strongly and McKay was involved at the other end sending over a good cross from the right which Ryan Dickson intercepted well ahead of Donald Campbell.
In the forty-third minute Rhys Millar outpaced Greenock fullback Sean Doherty on the right to send a dangerous cross along the six-yard line which Dylan Norman slid in to turn behind for a corner-kick. Donald Campbell's deep delivery from the right was headed behind by Greenock Skipper Cian MacAuley with Campbell getting his head to Fraser MacFarlane's corner-kick from the opposite side but failing to hit the target.
Very much still in the game at this point, Saints began the second half strongly with Fraser MacFarlane seeing a goal-bound effort deflected behind for a corner-kick.
Leading the line in the absence of top goal-scorer Connor Moore, young Rhys Millar looked to have done everything right in the fifty-sixth minute with a strong run through the inside-right channel only to see his low shot slip past Declan Tinney's right-hand post.
Saints were immediately punished for not taking the chance to equalise when sixty seconds later Donald Watt notched his second goal of the afternoon knocking home from six yards with the Saints defence slow to react to a David Grant flick-on.
This was just the boost the visitors needed to undo all of Saints' good work and, after Graham Douglas had spread himself well to save a Ewan McIlkenny effort from Evan McDonagh's right wing cross, tormentor in-chief David Grant out muscled Ben Forbes to a ball over the top and calmly rounded the Saints number one to tap into the net for his seventy-third goal of the season.
Ross Maitland used two of the four changes available to him sending on Connor Beattie and Innes Fraser to replace Fraser MacFarlane and Alec McInroy as Saints continued to battle hard all over the park.
Aaron McKay's determination in the middle of the park won a seventy-fifth minute free-kick midway inside the Greenock half on the right. McKay took the free-kick himself and picked out Ben Forbes at the back post who guided a header beyond the reach of Declan Tinney and into the net.
The Saints' goal was never likely to amount to anything more than a deserved consolation and the visitors re-established their three-goal advantage three minutes before full-time from a sweetly struck Ewan McIlkenny finish.
Despite the reverse Saints' Manager Ross Maitland will be encouraged at the battling qualities shown by his young charges who continue to grow at this level.
The steep learning curve for the young Saints shows no sign of flattening out with another massive test scheduled for this coming Saturday. East of Scotland Amateur Cup winners and Scottish Amateur Cup finalists Steins Thistle visit Glencruitten for Saints' penultimate home match of this season's Scottish Premier Amateur Football Association Premiership campaign.
コメント