St Andrews United’s first fixture of 2025 came at Whitehill Welfare in the East of Scotland Qualifying Cup but the visitors suffered a narrow defeat despite dominating for large periods of the contest. Not surprisingly, manager Greg Shields only made two changes from the team that beat Glenrothes in December, with Owen Andrew and Lewis Sawers replacing Luke Mahady and Lewis Craik respectively. Indeed, Saints began the match on the front foot so Ryan McManus hit the crossbar with the first shot of the afternoon before Andrew saw an effort ruled out for offside. However, the hosts took the lead in the 12th minute, slightly against the run of play, when Cammy Dawson pounced on a defensive error prior to sending the ball past a despairing Logan Halliday. The home players also benefitted from having the wind at their backs during the first half but they seemed happy to sit fairly deep until opportunities arose to make quick counter attacks. As such, the visitors dominated possession as well as fashioning some great passing moves involving McManus, Alex McCreadie and the impressive Freddie Rowe. 

Unfortunately, Saints didn’t really trouble home goalkeeper Ross Jardine as half time approached, though Andrew fired a shot over the bar and McCreadie scuffed a low effort from the edge of the 18-yard box.
Whitehill Welfare’s Bobby Wilson then found the back of Halliday’s net at the other end of the park following a lightening quick counter attack in the 39th minute yet the far-side linesman raised his flag to indicate offside. McManus subsequently collected a yellow card for breaking up a promising Whitehill move with Halliday stranded and the goal gaping but Mason Renton blasted the resulting free kick over the bar. The hosts therefore lead by a single goal at the break and the main talking point at the start of the second half concerned a change of goalkeeper for St Andrews as Shields handed a debut to Kyle Thomson. Saints then went close to equalising a few moments later when Rowe missed the target with a rising shot and Tom Milne somehow fired the ball over the bar from close-range, following a classic stramash in the 50th minute. McManus also went close with dipping shot in the 53rd minute before Jardine denied Andrew a goal from point-blank range on the hour mark.

Ross Cunningham then replaced McCreadie as Shields tried to keep his team on the front foot and the home goal seemed to be leading a charmed existence when Rowe fizzed another good effort just past the far post. However, the hosts always looked dangerous on the break and they grabbed a decisive second goal in the 77th minute when Lewis Walker beat the offside trap prior to slipping the ball past Thomson in a very composed manner. That goal really knocked the stuffing out of Saints so Shields made a triple substitution in the 78th minute with Craik, Josh Simonetti and debutante Bodhi Taylor replacing Sawers, Rowe and Payne. Craik then tested Jardine with a header a few moments later before Cunningham did likewise yet the home players never looked like relinquishing their two-goal advantage. The Whitehill lads certainly won their fair share of challenges all over the park and they produced a disciplined performance to set up a quarter final meeting with Dunbar United. On the other hand, their opponents will now refocus upon the battle to avoid relegation in the league but Shields will take some positives from the performance at Rosewell such as midfield dominance plus another ‘man of the match’ performance by John Tod.

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