St Andrews United draw with Petershill in final pre-season match

Indeed, West of Scotland first division outfit Petershill fashioned the first chance of the game when Ryan Thomson burst through the middle before testing home goalkeeper Logan Halliday with a low shot and the visitors played well during the opening stages as they attacked down the slope.

However, Saints also looked dangerous going forward and Lewis Sawers was at the heart of some entertaining passages of play.

The lively left winger collected a neat reverse pass from Tom Milne prior to shooting straight at Kevin McAllister in the 25th minute and he saw a shot from the edge of the box cleared a few moments later.

At the other end of the park, Thomas Sinclair was disappointed not to be awarded a penalty following a shove by Ryan Roche and the home defenders needed to be alert on more than one occasion as the Petershill wide men sent probing crosses into their box.

The final opportunity of the first half then fell to Sawers when he raced onto a good long pass from Micheil Russell Smith but McAllister pulled off a terrific save from a one-on-one situation.

The score thus remained goalless at the interval but United came out of the traps fairly strongly at the start of the second period.

Russell Smith tried his luck from a long-range free kick following a foul on Ryan Dignan then the boys in black and white took the lead in the 55th minute.

Russell Smith found the impressive Kyle Sneddon at the back post with a deep free kick and the big midfielder nodded the ball over the line from a yard out.

Both managers subsequently made a raft of substitutions as is the norm in such friendlies and the next chance of the game went to Darren Miller as he blasted the ball over the bar from well outside the United penalty area.

Sneddon also attempted a long-range effort for Saints as the action raged from end-to-end and Cammy Greenhill just missed the far post with a shot from the inside right channel in the 75th minute.

Jamie Adam then earned Petershill a free kick right on the edge of the box by firing a shot at Roche’s hand and substitute Dominic Morgan curled the resulting set-piece round the St Andrews United wall to equalise in the 84th minute.

Both teams therefore had to settle for a draw as the final whistle sounded but this was another useful exercise for Saints with the new league campaign starting in one week’s time.

Meanwhile, St Andrews United are on the hunt for a new secretary ahead of the new East of Scotland campaign.

A club spokesperson said: “Having good communication, computer and organisational skills is desirable. Full training will also be provided to the successful candidate in due course.

“Anybody wishing to apply for the role of secretary is asked to send a brief email to: [email protected].”