Gartcairn grind it out to keep cup dream alive
THE air of optimism that has built up at Gartcairn Juniors ever since the appointment of Davie Greig as team manager is blowing stronger than ever through the Airdrie based club following their 3-2 Scottish Junior Cup fifth round replay triumph over Carluke Rovers on Saturday.
And now the West Region newbies, formed in 2015, find themselves a step closer to making their first piece of Junior football history after securing a place in tomorrow’s Quarter Final draw.
To dream of getting hands on the coveted silverware appears farfetched if truth be told but there was no telling that to Greig and his jubilant players at the final whistle as they acknowledged the cheers of their supporters in the near 450 crowd.
“The players were excellent out there and won with a bit to spare even if the scoreline suggests we nicked it,” said Greig.
“Gartcairn may not yet be one of the biggest names in the Junior game but a lot of clubs will be jealous of what we’ve achieved.”
The tone was set for Gartcairn’s memorable afternoon in their first attacking venture of note when a marvellous 20th minute save from Rovers keeper Dan Tobin denied a well-struck effort from the dangerous Mark Tait at the expense of a corner kick.
The resulting flag kick was met by big stopper Kevin Ross whose powerful header crashed beyond Tobin to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
Carluke top scorer Ian Watt levelled when his strike following a corner kick bobbled over the line.
Gartcairn’s dominance towards half time was rewarded by a 41st minute score when Tait reacted quicker than anyone to Tobin par rying out a fierce Jordan Love drive to smash the rebound past the helpless keeper.
A minute after the break, the visitors stretched their lead when a Tait cross was headed into his own goal by unfortunate Rovers full back Gary Gow.
Carluke pulled one back with the best goal of the game from Alberto Vezza, the on-loan Stirling Albion 17-year-old, who fired a loose ball high into the net.
They continued to press but were unable to find an equaliser, and dejected striker Watt admitted: “It’s frustrating to have come so near to a last eight place but we didn’t play to our best and paid the price.”
Rovers gaffer Colin Slater said: “I’m feeling gutted right now because we have missed a great opportunity to be in the quarter-finals.
“We have committed the cardinal sins of missing decent scoring chances along with conceding sloppy goals. At 2-1 down I still felt the game was ours for the taking but losing a goal right at the start of the second half knocked us for six.”
Carluke’s promotion aspirations were boosted after Andy Clark and Craig Cowan goals securing a 2-0 victory for Vale of Leven against Port Glasgow but Glasgow Perthshire’s march to the title looks unstoppable after they recovered from a 2-0 deficit away to St Anthonys to win 3-2 with scores from Scott Forrester (2) and J P Craig.
In a weather-depleted fixture card, St Rochs furthered their Central First Division title claims after Baboucarr Mussa’s brace earned a 2-1 victory over Benburb at New Tinto Park at the same time as Rossvale were losing 2-1 to Greenock.
Relegation-battling Largs Thistle made the most of their astro-grass Barrfields surface being playable for the visit of Kilbirnie Ladeside by running out 4-1 winners through goals from Ian Fisher, Robert Love, Glenn Thomson and Matty Bennett.