St Laurence 0 Postal ALC 3 - Scottish Cup 1st Round - 6th Sep 2025 - Memorial Park

As was the luck of the draw, Postal travelled down to Laurencekirk to play St Laurence in the Scottish cup dreaming of a cup upset and advancing to the next round.  St Laurence sat in 5^th place in the Premier Division having picked up 3 wins in the top league, scoring 11 goals prior to the match.  On paper, the game was very much David vs Goliath with the odds stacked against Postal. 

Postal lined up with only one change from the starting 11 that faced Tarves a fortnight ago with Doug Russell replacing Sultan Ahmed who was off homing his soccer skills on the Copacabana beach in Rio. 

1. Grant Cormack

2. Bruce Webster

3. Andrew Riddell (S)

4. Euan Brechin

5. James Steele 

6. Keiron Dowbekin (S) (Y)

7. Steven Abel (S)

8. Alex Clark 

9. Harry MacAuley  (S) (Y)

10. Phil Wallace 

11. Doug Russell (S)

Bench: 

12. Adam Veitch (S)

13. Scott Stuart (S)

14. Vinnie Buggie

15. Andreas Christianson (S)

16. Neil McDonald

17. Owen Patterson (S)

18. Fraser Smith (S)

Saints kicked off the match shooting up the slight slope.

In the 1^st min some confusion in the Postal backline as the ball bounced between Riddell and Brechin allowed the saints CM a shot wide of target from distance.

5^th min a long ball from the Postal back line was taken down via Russell on the Postal right, played into Abel who flicked the ball to MacAuley with his head.  MacAuley then had the audacity to chest the ball down and volley a right footed shot into the saints bottom right corner.  Goal of real class from all involved.

0 – 1

St Laurence were playing a 3 at the back and looked to struggle every time Postal attacked at pace. 

On the 20^th min a Riddell cross was headed goalward by the home sides number 4 only to find the St Laurence keeper make a key save to tip over the bar. 

21^st min St Laurence number 9 drives wide from 20 yards as the Postal defence looked impenetrable.

29^th min following a horrific challenge on Clark, Riddel stepped up and drew an excellent save from the St Laurence keeper.  The resultant corner was again taken by Riddell finding Brechin in the box who bulleted his header into the net.  Great delivery and great header by Brechin who has been a colossal at the back for Postal in recent weeks.

0 – 2

Postal were dominating all over the park at this point, looking solid at the back with Dowbekin screening alongside Clark and Wallace bombing forward as the front three created chaos for St Laurence.

St Laurance were always going to remain dangerous however and on the 36^th min Postal allowed them to cross easily into the box from the left and number 10 rose tallest however headed wide.

39^th min Postal should have scored again.  Abel played the ball long through to Harry, the home side keeper came out his box to clear however the ball ended up in the sky. MacAuley took the ball down with only the keeper to beat……and Wallace free to the tall striker right, MacAuley shot and seen his effort cleared on the goal line.   Great opportunity for the away side.

40^th min MacAuley, still reeling from the earlier chance, booted the ball off the park and was booked.

HT 0 – 2

Postal started the second half sitting a little bit deeper, compensating for the slight slope. 

On the 50^th min a freekick from the Postal right was left by everyone bar St Laurence number 9 who raced in on Cormack who was equal to the task and smothered the ball.

55^th min St Laurence should have pulled one back.  Free kick again from the Postal right found the back line attempting to play offside, not given, number 7 was free one on one with Cormack.  Unluckily for the home player Cormack is making on average 2 to 3 game winning saves per match at the moment and wasn’t in the mood to be beaten as be rushed out and blocked the goal bound drive at the forwards feet.  Great save from the Postal number 1.

On the 60^th min Postal sprung back into life.  Webster played the ball to Russell, who drove to the byline crossing to Abel, Abel slipped in MacAuley who cut back to Wallace who seen his shot cleared off the line.  Great play. 

63^rd min Andreas replaces Russell.

65^th min Andreas wins a header on the Postal left playing MacAuley down the line.  With the outside of his right foot the tall striker played in a delicious ball to Abel who seen his shot rise over the bar.

72^nd min Dowbekin sees his long range effort saved by the home keeper as Postal kept pushing up the field.

75^th min Dowbekin booked.

76^th min Stuart replaces Riddell.

79^th min a moment of genius from Captain Steele.  Cross into the Postal box is headed up into the air.  A stramash ensues with the ball odds on to end up in the Postal net.  Rather than panic Steele knees the ball back into the arms of Cormack.  Great composure under pressure, as blasting the ball would have surely crashed off someone and into the Postal net.

80^th min Cormack frees Webster who drives up the Postal left before slipping the ball into Abel.  Abel controls and with the outside of his right foot slices open the St Laurence defence to find Wallce who one on one with the keeper dispatches.  Unbelievable goal and running from Wallace in this stage of the game.

81^st min Veitch on for Dowbekin, Patterson on for Abel, Fraser Smith on for MacAuley.

85^th min Wallace picks up the ball left of the middle of the park, breezes past one, skips past two before nutmegging the third player…….unleashing from 30 yards only to see his shot crash off the bar.  Contender for goal of the season if it went in!

FT

MOM – N/A

Booked - Kieron Dowbekin , Andrew Riddell, Harry MacAuley

Red Card – N/A

Overall a totally dominant performance from Postal today, so much so St Laurence changed their shape in the second half to combat the free flowing attacking football.  Defence looked water tight with the midfield dominant.  Forward line looked unstoppable as Postal made sure they are in the draw for the second round of the Scottish Cup.  Lets all hope for a bus trip away on the 4^th of October