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Campbeltown Pupils v Oban Saints

2pm  5 June 2016

Scottish Amateur League, Premier Division
Campbeltown Pupils 2 Oban Saints 1 (att 150)

Campbeltown is the sort of place that seems a long way from everywhere. It took us around five hours to drive there from Inverness, but a five hour drive through splendid scenery in fine weather is something to enjoy rather than endure.

This fixture was the "Argyll derby", but in this part of the world even local derbies involve long trips, it's about 90 miles and two hours drive from Oban to Campbeltown. The home side needed three points to avoid relegation, ensuring another season of league games against Oban.

In front of a much larger crowd than I'd expected for an amateur game, Pupils started well. The Oban keeper flapped at a 10th minute corner and it went straight in to put the home side in front. Saints looked like they might be overrun, but Pupils couldn't score again and it was still 1-0 at the break.

By the second half Oban were much better, and eventually Pupils slender lead disappeared when the visitors scored. Campbeltown batted back though, and got their reward with a dramatic winner just five minutes from time.

After going back in front there was a few minutes of desperate defending by the hosts, but they held out for three points and another season of premier division football.

Kintyre Park is a venue to deserves to host a good level of football. I believe it dates from the club's long-gone Junior days, and is fully enclosed with a railed-off pitch, dugouts, grass banking, a few park benches and small pavilion, complete with a covered area for spectators to the front.











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