CUP AGONY FOR BLAIR

Stung by away GA trophy loss to Superleague side

Blairgowrie suffered their first defeat of the season as they bowed out of the GA Engineering Cup on Saturday at the hands of Superleague title challengers Broughty Athletic.

Despite the eventual 5-2 defeat, Blair gave as good as they got for large parts of this tie.

But, against a team of Broughty’s calibre and senior experience, errors were ruthlessly punished.

The Davie Park side were the more dangerous early on.

Reilly saw a looping header drop inches over the bar, then he had a drive cleared off the line.

Blair were playing a good passing game and created openings down the flanks, but the final cross continually eluded the strikers.

Nicoll dragged an effort narrowly wide as the visitors continued to impress.

Somewhat against the run of play, Broughty took the lead after 18 minutes following poor marking.

Blair’s cause was not helped by three first-half injuries which necessitated early substitutions, but they continued to produce some excellent football.

Another error lead to a Broughty penalty after 38 minutes and Blair went in at halftime with a scoreline which certainly did not reflect their play.

Two more soft goals followed early in the second-half – the fourth assisted by a series of deflections – and it looked like a long afternoon ahead.

However, Blair rallied, with Brash smacking a header off the Broughty post.

Finally, the long overdue goal arrived on 68 minutes when Brash coolly passed the ball into the net after good play by Plenderleith.

It was soon 4-2 when Cruickshank kept up his record of scoring in every match this season.

His tally is sitting at 10 so far this season.

Maloney was elbowed in the box, and Blair’s prolific scorer stroked home the spot-kick.

Urged on by a good travelling support, Blair pressed, but they could not fashion a clear chance.

The closing stages saw Broughty enjoy their most dominant spell of the tie and they added a flattering fifth in stoppage time.

Blairgowrie: O’Brien, Findlay, Nicoll, Hood, Pirie, Axworthy, Brown, Reilly, Cruickshank, Plenderleith, Mitchell. Subs used: McDonald, Brash, Maloney.

It’s cup duty again this Saturday, with another trip to Dundee for a second round Scottish Cup tie against Premier League Violet. Kick-off at Glenesk Park is at 2.30pm.

This week’s Blairgowrie Junior FC lottery numbers were 3, 6, 9 and 15.

There were no winners. Next week’s jackpot is £1,050.