Saints sign off with all three points

Saints lined up with Craig Maitland in goal behind a back four of Craig Livingstone, Steven MacLeod, Ben Forbes and Drew Murray. Aaron McKay, Paul McFatridge and captain David Beaton were in midfield, with Connor Moore, James Muir and Stuart McLean up front.

Craig Aitken, Oran Bryce, James Ford and Keiron Lopez were on the bench.

The man with more comebacks than Frank Sinatra, Steven MacLeod, was in inspirational form in central defence alongside the equally solid Ben Forbes and made the first of many important interceptions to clear Gavin Mackie’s eighth minute free-kick.

Paul McFatridge came off second best in a clash with Jordan Murphy which saw the big midfielder require treatment for a nasty head knock.

Saints were dealt an injury blow after 19 minutes when Craig Livingstone’s troublesome back injury forced him off with Keiron Lopez getting the nod from the gaffer to take up the vacated right full back berth.

David Beaton was relishing his role as skipper and unlocked the Gartcosh defence in the 24th minute for the opening goal. Connor Moore timed his run perfectly to meet Beaton’s through ball and kept his composure to slot the ball past the advancing Scott Henderson.

The visitors drew level on the half-hour mark when Saints couldn’t fully clear the danger from yet another Jordan Murphy long throw-in with the Gartcosh skipper crossing from the left and picking out Ethan O’Neil in the box who this time found the target with his header.

Parity lasted just four minutes when James Muir pounced on a slip by Gartcosh keeper Scott Henderson who, when faced with the choice of hauling Muir down or allowing him to run through on goal elected to stay on the field leaving the Saints youngster to roll the ball into the unguarded net.

Saints keeper Craig Maitland, who was outstanding in his last outing, continued his run of good form punching away another Jordan Murphy long throw-in with Paul McFatridge quickly sending the ball forward for James Muir who made good ground on the left but had his attempt to pick out Stuart McLean in the middle cut out by Colin Galbraith.

Saints doubled their advantage in the 59th minute when Paul McFatridge threaded a well-weighted ball through the middle for the run of James Muir who won the battle of wits with Scott Henderson to complete his brace.

Despite the majority of the visitor’s pressure coming from set-pieces, their second goal came from open play with the impressive Gavin Mackie skilfully lobbing Craig Maitland in the 67th minute.

Stuart McLean, who had worked tirelessly up front was replaced for the closing 15 minutes by James Ford who was making a welcome return to the squad.

Saints restored their two-goal lead in the 78th minute when the midfield triumvirate of Aaron McKay, Paul McFatridge and David Beaton battled hard on the halfway line to win back possession and work the ball forward to Connor Moore. Moore held the ball up well before laying-off to Aaron McKay who made light of the sore foot which had plagued him all afternoon to smack a half volley from 15 yards past the despairing left hand of Scott Henderson.

The visitors immediately set about trying to reduce the deficit again but found the Saints defence in no mood to capitulate with, Steven MacLeod again making vital interceptions to keep Gartcosh at bay.

Saints manager Ross Maitland made his final changes for the closing minutes, sending on Craig Aitken and Oran Bryce to replace Connor Moore and James Muir up front.

Referee Jimmy Litster, who handled proceedings with minimal fuss, brought proceedings to an end after three additional minutes with the final result elevating Saints to third place in the Scottish Premier Amateur Football Association Premiership table.

Saints have no fixture this Saturday but play their final game of the season on Saturday March 23 which will be a re-match with Gartcosh United at Broadwood Stadium, Cumbernauld.