Match Report - Hutchison Vale
st andrews united 2-0 Hutchison Vale
Match Report
St Andrews United’s first home fixture of 2025 came against Hutchison Vale and the hosts earned a comfortable victory on a cold yet sunny winter’s day. Indeed, Saints began the match on the front foot and Owen Andrew opened the scoring with less than a minute showing on the clock. Lewis Sawers found Andrew at the back post following good work down the right and the blonde-haired striker kept his cool to find the back of Owens Samuel’s net. The visiting goalkeeper then made a brave save at the feet of Andrew a few moments later but he was beaten for a second time in the 15th minute. Freddie Rowe played a delightful pass to Andrew and United’s number ten did what he does best – racing clear of the defence before beating Samuel with a really composed finish. Unfortunately, the game became a little scrappy thereafter so quarter of an hour passed without either team creating a scoring opportunity. St Andrews United also looked very solid in defence because John Tod produced a terrific performance beside debutante David Cabrelli, whilst Logan Halliday continued to impress with assured handling throughout the afternoon.
However, Hutchison Vale’s Sam Khotari clipped the outside of Halliday’s post with a great effort on the half-hour mark and the young goalkeeper made one save of note in the 43rd minute by pushing a shot from the lively Luke Paxton past his left-hand post. The Saints players thus headed for the changing rooms with a healthy lead and the home fans were hoping to see a dominant performance down the hill during the second half. They were certainly treated to a hard-working display from the boys in black and white, whilst Greg Shields would have been satisfied with the way his players managed proceedings from start to finish. The first chance of the second period fell to Louis Signorini but he shot weakly at Halliday before several players became involved in a war of words near the halfway line. Sawers collected a yellow card for his part in the debate yet his team mates were soon on the attack once more. Ryan McManus caused panic in the away defence with a good free kick but Samuel did well to save a snap-shot by Andrew at the second attempt.
Shields subsequently replaced the energetic Lewis Craik with Alex McCreadie on the hour-mark yet the hosts continued to press forward in search of a decisive third goal. Mikey Ness and Sawers both made surging runs down the left that almost led to a breakthrough but the away defenders cleared their lines on more than one occasion. Halliday also earned a yellow card from Mr Budd for time-wasting yet most of the action during the second half took place at the other end of the park. Tod forced Samuel into making the best save of the game from a powerful header in the 77th minute then McCreadie found himself in space with fellow substitute Lewis Payne in support. Alas, the small midfielder passed the ball slightly behind Payne and the tall striker could only stab his shot past Samuel’s right-hand post. As such, there would be no further scoring so St Andrews United recorded a deserved 2-0 victory and the majority of the 131 fans in attendance went home happy! Indeed, Andrew has now moved on to eleven goals for the season and Halliday has kept four clean sheets from his last six outings.
Result
2-0 
- Saturday 25-01-25
- Location: Hutchison Vale
- Competition: East of Scotland Premier Division
