St Andrews United returned to league action following an historic victory in the Scottish Cup and Robbie Raeside’s boys produced another impressive performance against Oakley United.  Saints certainly started the game as the strongest side and Kyle Sneddon lashed a shot over the bar inside two minutes.  The hosts then opened the scoring a few moments later from a well-worked move that saw the ball switched to Lewis Sawers on the left wing.  United’s talismanic forward promptly cut inside and beat Oakley goalkeeper Josh Irvine with a terrific shot to give his side the lead.  The visitors subsequently enjoyed a mini revival as Lee Dawson headed wide and Ryan Roche made a terrific sliding tackle to break up a promising attack.  However, St Andrews United moved further ahead in the 17th minute when Sawers set Craig Simpson free and the popular striker found the net with an exquisite lob.  Ryan McManus then blazed a shot over the away team’s bar in the 20th minute and Sawers almost added a third with another clever lob that Irvine did well to hold.  Scott Reekie also knocked the ball past the far post from a yard out in a contender for miss of the season and the first half ended with Cammy Greenhill loosening the roof tiles on the Social Club with a wild effort from the inside right channel.  The Saints players therefore headed for their half time break with a healthy lead and they put the result beyond doubt immediately after the interval when Sawers presented Ryan Dignan with a chance he couldn’t miss.  Simpson also presented Dignan with a good opportunity that he did miss before the former forced Irvine into making a great save on the hour-mark.  Sawers was clearly in the mood to impress onlookers throughout the evening and he sent a low shot just past Irvine’s left-hand post as United attacked down the slope before testing the goalie with a powerful drive a few moments later.  The impressive Ryan Roche then made his second important slide tackle of the contest at the other end of the park but Calum Brodie only produced one save of note during the second half from a Kyle Mowatt header.  New signing Owen Andrew was next to try his luck with a dashing solo run and the former Kirkcaldy striker found the net in the 71st minute by converting a pin-point cross by Sawers.  The visitors more or less gave up the ghost at that point and Reekie made the most of poor marking to head the ball wide of Irvine’s goal in the 77th minute.  The elegant centre back seemed very frustrated with his finishing as he jogged back into position yet fellow defender Ross Cunningham showed the way by scoring a contender for goal of the season with a superb dipping shot from twenty yards.  Substitute Jordan Mackenzie almost notched a goal with an equally ambitious effort in the 81st minute as the ball just sailed over Irvine’s crossbar then Oakley went close to spoiling Brodie’s clean sheet with a free kick on the edge of the box.  Brodie consequently looked relieved after that shot slipped past his right-hand post but the goalie couldn’t resist impressing his fans by executing an acrobatic clearance during the dying stages of the encounter.  The St Andrews United supporters were plainly enjoying their football as the boys in blue dominated proceedings and Reekie capped a fine display by converting a great cross from Andrew to make the final score 6-0.  Saints were easily deserving winners in the end, though they won’t play such a weak Oakley side very often.     

Saints: Brodie, Milne, Greenhill (Mackenzie), Reekie-1, Roche, McManus (Collins), Sawers (Grant), Sneddon, Dignan-1 (Andrew-1), Simpson-2 (Shields) and Cunningham-1.

Crowd: 140