Match Report - Hill of Beath Hawthorn
Hill of Beath hawthorn 4-1 st andrews united
Match Report
St Andrews United’s long unbeaten run in the East of Scotland Premier Division came to an end against a strong Hill of Beath Hawthorn side on a very wet night in South Fife. The small but loyal group of travelling fans were expecting to watch a close contest as two old rivals from the Fife Junior League went head-to-head yet the hosts showed why they are currently sitting second in the region’s top-flight. St Andrews United actually created the first chance of the evening when Lewis Payne shot straight at Robert Duffy from a tight angle but the action quickly moved up the other end of the park thereafter. The Haws players saw a penalty appeal waved away in the 14th minute yet they scored less than a minute later when the prolific John Smith pounced on a loose ball before stabbing a good low shot past Kyle Thomson.
Thomson subsequently made a great save from a Jordan Tosh header in the 17th minute and there was a classic stramash from the resulting corner. The home forwards somehow failed to force the ball over the line but the red waves of attacks kept coming as the away boys became hemmed deep inside their own half. Thomson thus made a world-class save from a Tosh effort low to his right and the same striker lashed a shot wide of the target shortly afterwards. There was a brief period of respite for Saints on the half-hour mark when Ryan McManus went close with a free kick yet the Haws moved further ahead three minutes later when the impressive Lewis Elder found the net with a curling shot from the edge of Thomson’s 18-yard box. That made life extremely difficult for the visitors and their task of getting something from the game became next to impossible when Tosh pounced on a slack McManus back-pass before prodding the ball past a despairing Thomson. Tosh then watched the far-side linesman chalk-off a ‘goal’ for offside and the first half ended with Thomson making another stunning save, low to his right, from Brandon Luke.
The half time interval therefore arrived with Hill of Beath leading 3-0 and there weren’t many people in the crowd of 247 who were betting on Saints staging a comeback. However, the boys in blue came back from 2-0 down at Whitburn and they came out of the changing rooms with all guns blazing on this occasion. David Cabrelli almost converted a fine cross from McManus in the 52nd minute and the visitors finally clawed a goal back just after the hour-mark when John Tod forced the ball over the line from close-range. St Andrews United manager also made an interesting substitution with young Josh Simonetti replacing James Collins and Thomson kept the contest alive by making a good save from an unmarked Smith in the 63rd minute. Alas, the game really was won and lost within the next ten minutes because Ross Cunningham blasted a decent scoring opportunity straight a Duffy, albeit from a fairly tight angle. Tom Milne also missed the target with a half-chance a few seconds later before Tosh made the most of further poor defending by controlling a bouncing ball and firing a fourth goal past Thomson. Shields subsequently replaced Cunningham, McManus and Alex McCreadie with Lewis Craik, Freddie Rowe and Alex Balfour respectively but the damage was already done. Tosh then sent a shot just wide of Thomson’s left-hand post in 77th minute, though Saints kept plugging away as the clock wound down. Payne saw another near post effort saved by Duffy, whilst Tod’s powerful header was cleared off the line, yet auld Jock Finlayson’s boys were already celebrating an impressive victory!
Whilst Tosh was clearly the man-of-the-match, Thomson (Sponsored by Derek Kirk & Family) was St Andrews United’s best player.
Result
4-1 
- Wednesday 19-02-25
- Location: Keirs Park, Hill of Beath FC
- Competition: East of Scotland Premier Division
