Thistle do nicely beams EK boss
Victory over Ardeer ends four years of cup misery
won everything in the air, while John, with his knowledge and experience, rarely gives the ball away his ball retention is so good.
“He hassled Ardeer very well and we were a better team for their performances.
“In the last couple of games we’ve been really solid defensively and if we can keep this going hopefully we can go on a good run.”
Despite being underdogs against their Ayrshire District League rivals, Thistle started strongly in what was the first-ever meeting between these two sides.
Just seven minutes in an unmarked Liam McLaughlin headed wide after Ciaran Johnstone had guided Craig’s free-kick back across goal.
Jags skipper Alan McFadden forced Ardeer keeper Paul McCann into a good stop before Connolly shot wide.
The hosts failed to test Jags keeper Chris Treacy and after 31 minutes the visitors got the breakthrough.
Connolly collected the ball in midfield and his defence-splitting ball found Faulds, who slotted home at the back post unmarked.
Early in the second half the Jags thought they had earned the opportunity to double their advantage when Faulds was brought down in the box by Paul McKay.
The referee pointed to the spot, but following discussions with his assistant the whistler infuriated the visitors when he awarded a freekick on the edge of the penalty area instead. They couldn’t make that set-piece count and moments later Connolly saw a shot squirm wide of the post.
Ardeer offered very little as Thistle snuffed them out and their frustration came to a head in the final moments when an elbow was used on Faulds and the Ardeer player was given his marching orders.
Campbell added: “The red card didn’t have bearing on the game because it came so late on and, to be honest, on another day we could have scored a couple more goals.
“It was a great cross from Aaron Connolly for the goal and the boys worked really hard to keep that advantage.
“We are happy to be in the next round. It’s a great competition to be part of and it was an enjoyable journey back up the road.
“The league is our priority this season, so anything in this competition is a bonus.”
The Jags will find out their second round opponents on Saturday when the draw is made at Bellsdale Park, home of the holders Beith.
Attention now turns to league business with the visit of Dunipace to the Showpark on Saturday.
“We’ll need to be on our toes for that one,” said Campbell.
“Dunipace had a good result over Carluke last week (a 1-0 win), so they will bring real quality. We need to make sure we perform well and try our best to keep this run going.”