Peterhead v St Johnstone

Nov 14, 2020

Betfred Cup run comes to an end

Nov 14, 2020

Peterhead          1

Rooney (78og)

St Johnstone      3

May (49pen, 60pen)

Kane (77)

 

Peterhead’s Betfred Cup journey came to an end after a 3-1 defeat from visitors St Johnstone who put in a strong second half performance to ensure that they finished at the top of Group C.

Stevie May grabbed two penalties for his side, with his first spot-kick given for an offence that went unseen by everyone apart from referee Steven Anderson, with the second a more obvious award.

Chris Kane added a third before Peterhead responded instantly through an own goal

The blustery conditions meant that neither side got into any rhythm in the early stages with the first real opening coming in 20 minutes for the Perth side.

May darted down the left after a Guy Melamed pass had sliced open the home defence however Lenny Wilson ended the danger by getting down low to cut out the former Aberdeen player’s cross.

A tug on Steven Boyd’s jersey five minutes later gave Peterhead a free-kick in a dangerous position however Gary Fraser’s effort cleared Zander Clark’s bar without worrying the visiting goalkeeper.

Craig Conway created space 25 yards from goal on 27 minutes however his parting shot matched Fraser’s.

The hosts suffered a blow when Ben Armour had to come off just before the half hour with Alan Cook coming on in his place.

Peterhead should have been behind at the break after Scott Brown had given away a free-kick just outside the right-hand side of the home box. Conway flighted the dead ball to the back post where Shaun Rooney was waiting however the full-back steered his effort wide.

The second half got off to the worst possible start with St Johnstone awarded a penalty on 49 minutes after whistler Anderson spotted an infringement in the box that no-one in the Perth camp had claimed for. That did not trouble May who drilled home from 12 yards.

Freeman did well to stop a St Johnstone counter-attack on the hour mark however as the visitors kept up the pressure the on-loan Dundee United youngster tripped May and referee Anderson again pointed to the spot.

May did another immaculate job from the spot as Saints moved two ahead with Peterhead manager Jim McInally responding by taking off defender Jason Brown and bringing on striker Derek Lyle.

A third goal arrived on 77 minutes when Andrew McCarthy lost possession 30 yards from goal and substitute Callum Hendry released fellow replacement Chris Kane who drilled under Wilson at his near post.

McCarthy atoned for his error in the best possible way by getting free on the right and his low cross was turned into his own net by Rooney under pressure from Lyle.

Scott Brown slipped a late effort past a post as Peterhead continued to try and reduce the deficit.

Peterhead – Wilson, Bailey, Freeman, J Brown (Lyle 63), Conroy, Ferry, S Brown, Fraser (Cameron 68), McCarthy, Boyd, Armour (Cook 29)

Unused substitutes –Kesson, Bakar

Kelty Hearts v Peterhead

Nov 10, 2020

Peterhead claim bonus point at Kelty
Nov 10, 2020
Kelty Hearts 1
Stevenson (66)
Peterhead1
Fraser (49)
Peterhead win 5-3 on penalties
Peterhead came away from New Central Park with two points thanks to a 5-3 penalty kick success over Lowland League Champions Kelty Hearts following a 1-1 draw between the sides.
It was a game that Peterhead could have won in the second half with a strong performance or lost after being second best in the first half or indeed only picked up one point had captain Scott Brown, Gary Fraser, Steven Boyd, Derek Lyle and Ryan Conroy not kept their nerve in the shoot-out with Kelty skipper Michael Tider erring with the Fife side’s first spot-kick when he sent it against the woodwork.
Goalkeeper Joshua Rae dropped out after falling ill with Lenny Wilson making his debut after joining in the summer of 2019 with Kelty having three former Blue Toon players – Jamie Stevenson, Paddy Boyle and Scott Hooper in their starting line-up with a fourth former team-mate Craig Reid on the bench.
Lyall Cameron was given an early opportunity when Kelty keeper Darren Jamieson failed to clear correctly however Hooper got back to stop the danger.
Boyle fired over the Peterhead bar before Wilson made a smart stop from another ex-team-mate Jamie Stevenson who tried his luck from the edge of the box.
The hosts had been the better side in the first half and Peterhead manager reacted to this at the break by taking off Cameron and Alan Cook and replacing them with Derek Lyle and Steven Boyd.
The changes made an instant impact with the Balmoor men grabbing the lead four minutes into the restart in spectacular fashion with Gary Fraser thundering home a shot from 25 yards.
Ben Armour was denied a second for the visitors by Jamieson however Kelty came close to a leveller when Hooper became the third former blue and white player to go close when he headed towards goal.
It looked like Boyd would settle Peterhead nerves and secure the three points with 18 minutes left when he ran clear on goal however the striker slipped his effort just wide of goal.
Kelty took full advantage of that reprieve with Stevenson hitting a trademark free-kick from long distance and Wilson let his effort squirm through his hands and legs to set up the penalty shoot-out.
Peterhead won the extra point to set up a winner takes all affair with St Johnstone on Saturday.
Peterhead – Wilson, Bailey, Freeman, Brown, Conroy, Cameron (Boyd 46), McCarthy (Bakar 81), Fraser, Brown, Cook (Lyle 46), Armour (Ferry 63)
Unused substitutes – Kesson

Peterhead v Brechin City

Oct 13, 2020

Peterhead 3 Brechin City 1

Oct 13, 2020

Peterhead 3

Layne (13, 17)

Boyd (24)

Brechin City 1

Inglis (46)

Peterhead made it two wins out of two in Group C of the Betfred Cup when they defeated Brechin City 3-1 at Balmoor with the Blue Toon getting the job done early.

Manager Jim McInally made one change to the team that won 1-0 at Dundee United on Saturday with experienced centre-back Gary Mackenzie coming in to make his debut with Josh Mulligan dropping out after picking up a knock at Tannadice.

Isaac Layne look determined to get off the mark for the Blue Toon and after just 5 minutes he worked his way past two defenders to get a sight at goal however the striker’s shot flashed wide.

McInally’s side were dealt a blow on 10 minutes when Ben Armour came off with a knock with Alan Cook coming on as his replacement however the momentum that was being built towards the Brechin goal carried on.

A goal came on 13 minutes when Layne powered his way to the 18 yard box and then cracked a shot high into the Brechin net with the summer recruit from Dumbarton denied a second shortly afterwards.

Layne was not to be denied again and on 17 minutes he applied a back-heel to a low corner and forced the ball home from 4 yards.

Peterhead were rampant by this stage and Saturday’s match-winner Steven Boyd got on the score-sheet on 24 minutes with a rasping drive from 30 yards.

Substitute Cook was denied a goal by a smart save from Paddy O’Neil with Michael Paton getting a shot away for Brechin just before the half-time whistle however Joshua Rae was not troubled.

Brechin got themselves into the game within a minute of the second half starting when Kyle Bailey’s clearance came back off Kieran Inglis and gave the visiting substitute the chance to scramble the ball past Joshua Rae and he took it.

Peterhead responded to that set-back in the best possible way with Layne denied a hat-trick by a last ditch tackle and then a post before manager McInally opted to rest the striker ahead of the League 1 opener at Airdrie at the weekend and replace him with Derek Lyle.

Andrew McCarthy who was having his best game in a Peterhead shirt came closing to breaking his goalscoring duck midway through the second half however O’Neil saved his shot well.

Boyd was was withdrawn to give Lyall Cameron a run-out and fans watching on-line got their first glimpse of Derryn Kesson when he came on for McCarthy with the winger setting up Lyle after a darting run however the striker headed over.

A swerving free-kick from Lyle was pushed past with Brechin denied a second goal late on when Rae saved a header from Rory Currie.

Peterhead Rae, Bailey, J Brown, MacKenzie (Freeman  62), Conroy, McCarthy (Cameron 73), Ferry, S Brown, Boyd (Kesson 73), Layne, (Lyle 61), Armour (Cook 10)

Unused substitutes Wilson

Read manager Jim McInally’s thoughts on the win tomorrow morning.

Dundee Utd v Peterhead

Oct 10, 2020

Dundee United 0 Peterhead 1

Oct 10, 2020

Dundee United 0

Peterhead 1

(Boyd 51)

Season 2020/ 21 got off to a fantastic start for Peterhead with Jim McInally’s side securing a 1-0 win at the Tannadice home of Premiership Dundee United.

A Steven Boyd goal early in the second half secured three points in Group C and what should be most pleasing to fans of the Blue Toon is not just the score-line but how well the players went about their business.

Joshua Rae was given his debut in goal with Kyle Bailey, Josh Mulligan and Isaac Layne all getting their first starts as well and former Dumbarton striker Layne could have opened his account for his new club on 8 minutes when he was picked out by Andrew McCarthy however he headed wide.

A minute later Mulligan went off injured and Peterhead had to reshuffle with Gary Fraser coming on to play in midfield and Simon Ferry dropping into defence with Bailey shifted out to right back.

Despite the changes Peterhead continued to impress and Layne brought out a save from Deniz Mehmet with a stinging drive from 25 yards.

Unfortunately the front-man had picked up a knock and he went off injured in 33 minutes however again this disruption was taking in their stride by the Balmoor men.

Before half-time Ryan Conroy fired just over and when the 45 minutes were up McInally’s side would have been slightly disappointed that they had not got their noses in front.

That all changed six minutes into the restart when after a period of sustained pressure and missed opportunities McCarthy picked out Boyd and curled a shot past Mehmet.

Cammy Smith had an opening shortly afterwards as United looked to hit-back and when Ben Armour became the third player to come off injured just after the hour mark it looked like an uncomfortable time lay in store.

Lyall Cameron can on and he quickly played himself into the game with the on-loan Dundee youngster creating a chance for Cook however he could not force the ball past Mehmet.

The hosts looked to ramp up the pressure in the closing 10 minutes however Rae was equal to the couple of headers that found their way to goal.

A couple of crosses fizzed across goal before the final whistle went and a deserved three points headed north.

Peterhead – Rae, Bailey, Ferry, Brown, Conroy, Mulligan (Fraser 9), McCarthy, Brown, Boyd, Layne (Cook 33), Armour (Cameron 64)

Unused substitutes

Mackenzie, Cook, Fraser, Kesson, Cameron, Wilson, Lyle