Oban Saints AFC

THE annual Argyll and Bute Cup Tournament, sponsored this year by Angus MacPhee of AMP Electrical Services, took place at Glencruitten Parks, Oban, on Saturday 5th August with Dunoon lifting the trophy for the first time after a dramatic 5-3 penalty shoot-out win over Tarbert. The scoreline was 2-2 at the final whistle.
   Eight teams took part, divided into two sections of four with the top two in each section qualifying for the semi finals. The games were short, sharp 30 minute encounters, ideal for the match fitness of the teams whose league programmes start in the next couple of weeks.
   The tournament kicked off at 10.30 am with Oban Saints taking on Tarbert on pitch one and Oban Saints Under 19s playing Lochgilphead Red Star on pitch two. Both Oban teams came out on top with the Saints senior team defeating Tarbert 2-0 thanks to goals from Darin Bryars and Ross Graham. The Under 19s had an impressive 1-0 win over Lochgilphead Red Star, Chris Graham netting for the young Saints.
   Newcomers to the competition Ballachulish defeat Campbeltown Boys 1-0 thanks to a wonder strike from Alan MacInnes, then last year's tournament winners Clark Drive from the Ayrshire Premier League were held to a 0-0 draw by Dunoon.
   Campbeltown Boys played Tarbert and it was the Dookers who came out on top with goals from James Prentice and Nicky MacDougall. Red Star then took on Clark Drive and the men from Mid Argyll came out on top thanks to an own goal from Ross Davidson and a header from Neil Russell.
   Saints took on Ballachulish and it was the experience of the Oban side which came to the fore as they won 3-0 thanks to goals from Keith Millar, Mark Robertson and Ross Maitland. The Under 19s then faced a tough game against Dunoon, but the youngsters acquitted themselves well despite going down 4-2. Scorers for Dunoon were David Murphy (2) John Vinson and an own goal with Myles MacAulay netting both goals for the Oban side.
   The Saints senior side, played their last game in section one and had a comfortable 4-1 win over Campbeltown Boys to top the section thanks to goals from Mark Robertson, Keith Millar, Dean Cassells and Allan MacKay. Netting for the men from the Wee Toon was Craig Laing.
   Tarbert, then secured a place in the semi-finals with a 3-1 win over Ballachulish with goals from James Prentice (2) and Michael Connor. Eddie Swift scored the Ballachulish consolation goal. The last section game of the day saw Red Star take on Dunoon and it was the men from Lochgilphead who won this close encounter by the only goal of the game scored by Craig MacMillan.
   This meant the semi-finals paired Oban Saints against Dunoon and Tarbert took on Mid Argyll rivals Red Star.
   Both semi-finals turned out to be pretty dour affairs with no goals scored in either of them, so it was down to the dreaded penalty shoot-out with Dunoon defeating Oban Saints 7-6. The Oban side must be kicking themselves as they had five chances during the sudden death penalty kicks to book their place in the final. In the other semi-final penalty shoot-out the scoreline turned out to be exactly the same as the first one as Tarbert ended Red Star's cup hopes 7-6.
   The final betwen Dunoon and Tarbert was a much better game with Dunoon taking the lead through David Kelly. Keith Harris equalised for the Dookers then Brian Loughrin put Dunoon ahead again, but Michael Connor levelled the score at 2-2 after the allotted half an hour's play. Again it was down to penalties and it was Dunoon who triumphed 5-3 to win the Argyll and Bute Cup for the first time.
   At the end of the competition tournament organiser David Buchanan thanked all the match officials - Donnie Brooks, John Scott, David Mitchell, David Paterson, Alan MacGregor and Kevin Summers as well as all the teams for providing such an entertaining days football.
Oban Saints manager Iain Jackson then presented the tournament officials with mementos of the occasion as well as the runners-up medals to Tarbert before handing over the winners medals to Dunoon and the Argyll and Bute Cup to their captain John Vinson. The player of the tournament, picked by the match officials, was Dunoon full back Stewart MacIntyre.

Oban Saints manager Iain Jackson hands over the Argyll and Bute Cup to Dunoon skipper John Vinson

Left - Player of the Tournament Dunoon's Stewart MacIntyre. Right: Dunoon manager Stewart MacIntyre (no relation) and sponsor Peter Muldoon face the camera with the Argyll and Bute Cup

Tarbert reached the final for the first time, but were beaten 5-3 on penalties

Section One					Section Two
Tarbert	0	v	2	Oban Saints	Red Star	0	v	1	Under 19s
Ballachulish	1	v	0	C'town Boys	Dunoon	0	v	0	Clark Drive
C'town Boys	0	v	2	Tarbert	Clark Drive	0	v	1	Red Star
Ballachulish	0	v	3	Oban Saints	Under 19s	2	v	4	Dunoon
Oban Saints	4	v	1	C'town Boys	Clark Drive	0	v	0	Under 19s
Tarbert	3	v	1	Ballachulish	Red Star	1	v	0	Dunoon

Semi Final 1					Semi Final 2
Oban Saints	0	v	0	Dunoon (Won 7-6 Pens)	Lochgilphead Red Star	0	v	0	Tarbert (Won 7-6 Pens)

Final
Dunoon (Won 5-3 Pens)	2	v	2	Tarbert

Beaten semi-finalists Oban Saints

Section One

P

W

D

L

F

A

GD

Pts

OBAN SAINTS

3

3

0

0

9

1

+8

9

TARBERT

3

2

0

1

5

2

+3

6

BALLACHULISH

3

1

0

2

1

6

- 5

3

CAMPBELTOWN BOYS

3

0

0

3

1

7

- 6

0

Section Two	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
LOCHGILPHEAD RED STAR	3	2	0	1	3	1	+2	6
DUNOON	3	2	0	1	4	3	+1	6
SAINTS UNER 19s	3	1	1	1	3	4	- 1	4
CLARK DRIVE	3	0	2	1	0	2	- 2	2

Lochgilphead Red Star lost out in the semi-final to Mid Argyll rivals Tarbert

Tournament officials (L to R): John Scott, Kevin Summers, Alan MacGregor, David Paterson, David Mitchell and Donnie Brooks

Left: Oban Saints Dean Cassells takes on the Campbeltown Boys defence. Right: Dunoon's John Vinson and Oban Saints Under 19 midfielder Myles MacAulay challenge for a high ball

Newcomers to the tournament - Balachullish

Campbeltown Boys