Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Tayside duo march on in Scottish Cup
TAYSIDE has two representatives in the quarterfinals of the Scottish Cup after terrific performances from Carnoustie and Lochee United saw both progress.
Carnoustie marched past Arthurlie with a late flurry of goals.
The first half was fairly even but the Gowfers took control of the second 45, although they had to wait until the 79th minute before breaking the deadlock.
Sam Simpson was tripped in the box and he converted the resultant penalty himself to put the hosts ahead.
Four minutes later it was 2-0, with Simpson again involved when his cross was swept into the net by Ryan Dignan.
Then, just to put the icing on the cake, Man-of-the-Match, Simpson struck again in stoppage time to book a place in the quarter-finals for the first time since 2004.
Lochee’s 2-0 win at Irvine Meadow was a terrific result for the Thomson Park club and manager George Shields was rightly proud of a battling display from his team.
The Bluebells had to withstand some early pressure, with Ben Black forcing a good early save from Mark Fotheringham.
However, Lochee gradually settled, although they had another scare when Craig Smith had to clear another Meadow effort off the line.
The Bluebells then stunned the home support when they broke the deadlock in 36 minutes. A Smith effort was blocked but it broke for Grant Lawson, who smacked the loose ball into the net from 10 yards.
Lawson had the chance to put Lochee two ahead five minutes from the interval but fired wide from a good position.
The visitors survived an early secondhalf onslaught from the home side but gradually took control of the tie.
Scott McComiskie came close to adding a second. He had better luck i n 68 minutes when he all but put the game beyond the Ayrshire side with the Bluebells’ second goal.
Meadow did put Lochee under a bit of pressure in the closing stages but the visiting defence always looked in control and, in the end, held out for one of their biggest wins in the last few years.