We’ll make amends at Peterhead, insists McHugh
BOB McHUGH believes Morton will show their quality to take care of League Two Peterhead tomorrow night although he is partially responsible that a replay is necessary.
It is unfair to solely blame the Cappielow striker as he was arguably their best performer and scored the equalising goal.
However, he missed with what seemed an excellent opportunity in stoppage time that would have prevented an eight-hour round trip to the north east.
McHugh, who was unable to convert Robert Thomson’s cross, said: “The chance at the end was a hard one. The ball came over and I saw it late and I just tried to hit the target but unfortunately it didn’t hit the back of the net.
“We probably didn’t deserve it over the 90 minutes but we’re the fulltime team so we expect to progress on Tuesday but we know it will be tough as they are a physical side and we’re not the biggest.”
McHugh scored in 40 minutes after Scott Brown had fired the Blue Toon in front.
Aaron Muirhead, the Falkirk captain, found some damning words as the Bairns crashed out 4-2 to Stenhousemuir, who sit at the foot of League 1.
“There are no excuses for that. It was embarrassing,” said Muirhead. “Where do you start in term of what went wrong? We all made mistakes. It was unacceptable, from start to finish.”
Falkirk claimed the lead through Paul Patonbefore Stenny’s 18-year-old centre-half Conor McBrearty scored twice in the space of four minutes.
Joe McKee restored parity on the cusp of halftime but the hosts surged to victory through Sean Dickson and Mark McGuigan.
By the end, the scoreline could have been more handsome.
Muirhead, one of the few stalwarts in a playing squad that has been unceremoniously disassembled following the sacking of Peter Houston last year, has been hit hard by the club’s decline.
“I was here in 2015 when we reached the Scottish Cup final and those are the sorts of memories we should be giving supporters,” he continued.
“Or finishing second in the Championship, getting to the final of the play-offs.
“Instead, we’re at the bottom of the Championship and getting knocked out of the Scottish Cup by Stenhousemuir.”
As Muirhead plumbed new depths of despair, McBrearty was enjoying the most memorable occasion of his short career to to date after helping Stenny book a mouth-watering fourth-round tie against Aberdeen.
The towering teenager was making just his fifth appearance in senior football after joining on loan from St Mirren and marked it with a commanding showing – in defence and attack.
“I’m absolutely buzzing,” said McBrearty. “I was nervous at the start of the game. There was such a big crowd, it felt like a massive occasion and it took me some time to acclimatise but once I settled, it was fantastic and I’ll never forget it.”
‘‘ There are no excuses for that. It was embarrassing