St Patrick’s FPs 2-0 West Dumbarton AFC
Saints boss Johnny O’Brien needed to give his side the hairdryer treatment, as they eventually saw off a determined West Dumbarton side in the Amateur Cup.
After a below par first-half, a good old fashioned rollicking from boss O’Brien sent his team out for the second half under no illusions that if improvement didn’t happen early then changes would be made.
Brandon Carmouche and skipper Ciaran McElroy got second-half goals to ensure Saints progress, with keeper Nathan Wylie saving a Liam Cavan penalty when the score was 1-0.
Boss O’Brien said: “We had watched West Dumbarton so we knew it wasn’t going to be an easy match and we relayed that to the players.
“We just never got going in the first half against a strong hard working team but we were much better in the second half and my only concern was the lack of more goals due to poor finishing”
The first-half was devoid of any real goalmouth action as Saints struggled to get a foothold in the match.
For their part, the Westies must have been happy with the first 45 minutes where they defended well and were a threat from middle to front.
Saints management team were clearly unhappy as the ref blew for half time with the game scoreless.
With their manager’s words still ringing in their ears, Saints came out with all guns blazing and within 10 minutes of the second period the tie was virtually over.
Two minutes after the restart Dylan Molloy drove down the right wing before picking out Kevin McElroy at the back post and his volleyed cross was met perfectly by the onrushing Brandon Carmouche who netted easily.
The Westies were stung by the early goal and, within six minutes, they had a golden opportunity to equalise.
A rash tackle by Saints young centre back May on Westies’ McCallum left the ref with an easy decision to make.
There was a touch of irony with ex Saints player Liam Cavan lining up to take the penalty, but the pressure seemed to get the better of him as his weak effort was saved by Nathan Wylie – to the delight of his teammates and the large home support.
Saints didn’t hang around after Wylie’s heroics and 90 seconds later they gave themselves some breathing space with a quite brilliant second goal.
Scottish internationalist McColl set off on a mazy run before finding skipper Ciaran McElroy with a delightful pass. He took a touch with his right foot before smashing a volley with his left foot into the top bin to leave Reilly helpless.
Westies were now looking tired as Saints looked hungry to add to the scoreline and only some poor finishing kept the score at 2-0.
Saints were happy to play out the remaining time and send their fans home with the local bragging rights.
Head coach Paul Bell added: “We were clearly not at our best today but we will take the victory and our place in the draw for the next round.”
N.Wylie, M.Doherty, R.McColl, J.May, D.Brown, L.Gray, B.Carmouche, D.Molloy, K.McElroy, N.MacGuire, C.McElroy. Subs: R.Beaton, D.Burnside, C.McLaren, A.Parfery, J.Paterson.