Saints suffer from East Craigie's friendly fire

Saints fell to a home defeat at the hands of East Craigie as Charlie King’s side prepare for a new East of Scotland Football League season.

The visitors hit twice in the first 45 and then notched another after the interval to seal a convincing win.

United, playing up the hill in the first half, found themselves under pressure from the opening whistle and were a goal down when Adam Brown found space and fired a low shot beyond Kyle Moran.

Only 10 minutes had passed before the visiting side doubled their lead.

Moran made every effort to beat Lee Cameron’s shot away but the strike had too much power on it and found the net.

United began to work their way back into the game with Jake Grady showing his pace.

But the young striker too often found himself having to resort to shots from distance which the Craigie backline managed to cope with.

Saints started brightly after the interval and looked to grab an early goal to get themselves back into the tie.

East Craigie still showed attacking intent of their own, particularly down the wings.

St Andrews United’s best chance of the second half came from a free kick to the back post which Michael Fleming and Jake Grady failed to connect with.

As the subs began to flow off and on, the game became a little disjointed and allowed East Craigie to wrestle their way back into it.

Grady McGrath’s shot came back off the post, much to United’s relief, before Moran was called on to keep out another.

But McGrath was not to be denied moments later and the former Dundee youth forward went on to make the score 3-0 from close-range in the 83rd minute.

The St Andrews United players were ready for the final whistle at that point and now turn their attention to two further friendlies to play before the real action starts.

The first of those games came against Coupar Angus at home in midweek, Saints running our convincing 8-2 winners. They now face, a game away from home to Tayport on Saturday, July 10.