NO.1 FOR JUNIORS
THE gulf in quality between Junior football’s regions has surely never been more evident than in the Scottish Junior Cup second-round ties on Saturday.
Embarrassing scorelines were posted in the long-running competition’s record books across Scotland, most notably by Shotts Bon Accord with a 13-0 victory against Muirkirk, with Beith hitting 12 without reply at home to Inverness City, Rutherglen Glencairn defeating Glentannar 11-0, Gartcairn running out 9-0 winners over Whitehills and Auchinleck Talbot’s 8-0 besting of Forres Thistle.
Dyce blasted seven goals past Newmachar United while among the six-hitters were Ashfield, for whom Keigan Parker marked his debut for the Possil outfit by bagging a hat-trick in a 6-1 triumph away to Sunnybank.
Cup shocks were thin on the ground, however eyebrows will have been raised at Clydebank going down 3-2 to Kennoway Star Hearts as well as five-time Cup winners Cambuslang Rangers losing 3-1 at home to Stonehaven. That said, nothing beats Super Premier Division outfit Girvan’s s 3-2 demise at Hamilton Park k against East Kilbride Thistle.
Another venue where things did not go according to the form book was the James McGrory Stadium in the Garngad where St Roch’s were strongly fancied to get the better of lower-league visitors Bellshill Athletic - only to go down 1-0 and finish the game with nine men.
The opening 45 minutes were totally dominated by the home team despite playing into a very strong wind blowing straight down the pitch.
Bellshill appeared toothless and unable to channel the elements in their favour with only a Lee Nichol free-kick from 30 yards testing Candy Rock goalkeeper John Stark.
All the action was at the other end of the pitch where the lively Darren McGuire and Jordan Logan came close before a Ryan Jack shot was cleared off the line by Bellshill defender Euan Conroy.
But experienced shotstopper Chris Fitzpatrick’s goal was rarely threatened once the teams had turned round and St Rochs fell behind just minutes after the restart.
The outstanding player afield, Bellshill forward Jamie Stewart, cut in from the right flank and fired a shot that a diving Stark kept out but the rebound sat up nicely for Paul Brennan to hammer home from close range for 1-0.
Shortly afterwards St Roch’s stopper Ross Dickson picked up the game’s first booking when a robust challenge sent Stewart crashing and the defender was to pay an even heavier price on the hour mark as whistler Garry Docherty adjudged his leaning on Brennan as they both competed for a cross merited a penalty kick.
A second yellow card saw Dickson receive his marching orders but some consolation came from Stark diving left to parry away David Shaw’s tame spot-kick and keep alive the Candy Rock’s hopes.
But it was not to be as Bellshill made their numerical advantage tell and the home side never really looked capable of getting on level terms and their faint hopes were all but extinguished just five minutes from time when Tam Hanlon was red carded to leave his side with nine men.
THE FULL-BACK’S dismissal was harsh in the extreme given his attempt to hook the ball over his shoulder only to accidentally catch Stewart who was trying to nick the ball away, however St Roch’s boss Andy Cameron chose not to gloss over his team’s failings.
He said: “Tam’s kick on the Bellshill player is an accident, but we cannot point the finger at the referee for losing be- cause the fact is we were way below our normal standards.
“I warned the guys at halftime against complacency in thinking we had the tie won with the wind at our backs and my big fear was Bellshill scoring first, which was exactly how things worked out.
“The wind undoubtedly spoiled the game, but all credit to Bellshill for adapting to it better and we wish them all the best in the next round.”
Bellshill assistant manager Gary Shearer heaped praise on his players and particularly star man Stewart.
“Jamie being involved in all the game’s talking points is down to his fabulous work rate out there and he has to aim now on producing that same level of performance on a consistent basis.
“But overall it was a great team display especially second half when we used our extra man to get the ball down and make passes.”
In the other city-based cup games,Vale of Clyde and Pollok chalked up 4-1 wins over Arbroath Vics and Royal Albert respectively while Glasgow Perthshire kept a clean sheet in a 4-0 win over Kinnoull.
Benburb beat Craigroyston 3-2 but St Anthony’s lost out 3-1 at home to Yoker Athletic.