Match Report - Oakley Utd
Oakley utd 0 - 1 St andrews united
Match Report
Greg Shields’ reign as St Andrews United manager began with a hard-fought win at Oakley United in the East of Scotland Qualifying Cup and the new boss will have learned a great deal about his players over the course of the afternoon. Indeed, Saints began the match on the back foot with Oakley’s number 10 going close to giving the home team the lead as he missed the target with a free header. The visitors then sprung into life in the ninth minute of the contest as Lewis Sawers raced towards goal but despite what looked like a foul, referee Richard Kay waved play on. At the other end of the park Alex McCreadie, Owen Andrew and Ryan McManus failed to trouble Oakley’s GK with long-range efforts but the home players created the best chances during the first half. Logan Halliday made a superb save from Oakley’s number 2 to keep the score level on the half-hour mark then Mikey Ness did extremely well to block a shot from the home teams #10 on the goal-line with his goalkeeper beaten. Halliday also made an outstanding save low to his right from the same player in the 38th minute before their number 7 missed the target with a free header from the resulting corner. The first half subsequently drew to a close with Sawers lashing a shot over the bar following a trademark solo run.
The hosts continued to look dangerous at the beginning of the second half and it took an offside flag as well as a terrific tackle from Dan Hall to prevent Oakley’s #15 from opening the scoring. Shields therefore made a double substitution on the hour-mark with Lewis Payne and Luke Mahady replacing Hall and Andrew respectively. Payne saw a low drive saved within minutes of entering the fray and John Tod went close with a header, whilst Saints looked far more dangerous going forward with Sawers playing in a now deeper and wider role.
The introduction of Ross Cunningham and Lewis Craik also gave the visitors fresh impetus but Oakley still looked threatening when their #10 curled a shot into the hands of Halliday in the 73rd minute. The key moment of the game then came four minutes later when the United players constructed the best passing move of the afternoon. Craik found Mahady with a neat pass and the big striker laid the ball into the path of Payne, who made no mistake with a composed finish to give St Andrews United the lead. That goal seemed to settle the nerves amongst the visitors yet their opponents should’ve equalised in the 81st minute when their #10 was clean through on goal. However, the lively forward made a mess of his finish as a relieved Halliday watched the ball trundle past his far post. Craik then curled a shot straight towards goal as the action continued to swing from end-to-end but Halliday claimed the ‘man of the match’ award by producing a save of the season contender in the 86th minute. Oakley’s #10 thought he had equalised with a long-range dipping effort yet Halliday somehow tipped the ball over the bar to cap a fine personal display. The other ‘man of the match’ contender was McManus for spurring his team mates forward at every opportunity and Saints did just enough to beat a hard-working and spirited home side.
Crowd: 149
Result
0-1
- Saturday 30-11-24
- Competition: East of Scotland Qualifying Cup
