St Andrews United made history on a sunny afternoon at The Clayton Caravan Park Recreation Ground by winning a Senior Scottish Cup tie for the first time.  Manager Robbie Raeside picked an attack-minded starting eleven with Craig Simpson and Ryan Dignan both filling forward berths but Haddington Athletic dominated proceedings for the first quarter of an hour.  Indeed, the visitors created four decent chances during the opening stages of the fixture, whilst shooting down the hill.  Guy McGarry beat the offside trap before shooting straight at Calum Brodie then Mark McGovern and Kier Russell missed the target from the edge of the box.  McGarry also found himself at the centre of the first half’s main talking point when he was fouled by Brodie.  The United goalie raced well off his line to make that challenge and he was very lucky to only be shown a yellow card by category one referee Mike Roncrone.  Brodie therefore remained in place as McGovern wasted the resulting free kick and the goalie continued to enjoy good luck on the half-hour mark as Mikey Robertson smashed a shot off the St Andrews United crossbar.  However, Brodie earned his money in the 33rd minute of the match when he made a brilliant block at the feet of McGarry and Saints gradually became more competitive as the first half progressed.  James Collins hit the target with a long-range shot that was held by Campbell McLellan in the 34th minute and a moment of magic from Lewis Sawers released Simpson as the hosts gained in confidence.  Alas, the sturdy striker took a very heavy touch and the scoring opportunity was gone in the blink of an eye.  Reece Redpath was next to try a shot at goal after a scramble in the away team’s box then the first half ended after Scott Reekie almost found the net with another long-range effort.  Raeside subsequently replaced young Lewis Grant with Ross Cunningham at the start of the second half and Saints’ longest-serving player went on to produce an excellent display at left back as the impressive Tom Milne revered to the right back berth.  Milne even went close to scoring on two occasions with a header and a shot from corner kicks and those efforts were sandwiched between a couple of Dignan chances.  Reece Redpath also tried to break the deadlock in the 54th minute with an attempt that was blocked near the penalty spot then Brodie caused further panic by racing off his line for a second time.  On that occasion, the goalie became stranded in no-man’s land as Gary Windram raced towards goal but the left winger fluffed his lines by blazing the ball into the larger than average sized crowd.  The home supporters consequently breathed a sigh of relief following that major let-off and the action quickly returned to the other end of the pitch as Simpson mishit two fairly weak shots at McLellan in quick succession.  The hosts were dominating possession at that point and Sawers almost scored a wonder-goal with a clever lob in the 65th minute but the ball landed on the roof of the net.  Collins then tested McLellan with a good low shot before another magical piece of play by Sawers gave Redpath the chance to shoot from the edge of the Haddington 18-yard area.  The midfielder took an excellent touch that deceived his opposing defender prior to finding the net with a tremendous shot.  The home fans roared in delighted as Redpath celebrated with team-mates and Saints kept pressing for a second goal thereafter as Sawers shot straight at McLellan and a Scott Reekie effort was deflected on to the visiting goalkeeper’s bar.  The away players thus took advantage of those misses to press for an equaliser and the United supporters endured a nervous end to the match as a result.  However, several balls sent towards the St Andrews United defence were blocked or cleared so Brodie did not have to make any further saves.  The final chance of the encounter went the way of Saints when substitute Cammy Greenhill narrowly failed to connect with a cross from the left then the real celebrations began as Mr Roncone blew the final whistle.  United therefore won a Scottish Cup tie for the first time in history and Raeside’s boys will now face Auchinleck Talbot at home on the 23rd of September 2023.    

 

Saints: Brodie, Milne, Grant (Cunningham), Reekie, Roche, Redpath-1, Sawers (Greenhill), Sneddon, Dignan (Shields), Simpson (Mackenzie) and Collins. 

 

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