Sting in the tail as Theesel rally to rock Candy with late treble
ST ROCH’S 2 LARGS THISTLE 5
ONE cannot imagine 130-year-old Largs Thistle have experienced a last 15 minutes like Saturday’s closing quarter of an hour in their Macron Scottish Junior Cup fifth-round replay clash against St Roch’s.
At that stage in proceedings, Theesel were ingloriously heading out of the cup, trailing 2-0 at the James McGrory Stadium against opponents who despite the handicap of being reduced to 10 men from the 41st minute had just missed a dream opportunity to go 3-0 up when Ryan McManus raced clear of a square-looking visitors backline only to be foiled by goalkeeper Jamie McGowan advancing off his line to make a blocking save of the striker’s parting shot.
It would have been a long way back from 3-0 and in Largs boss Stuart Davidson’s shoes, things were looking decidedly grimmer by the moment however the lifeline he’d thrown his side 10 minutes earlier by introducing substitute Ryan McKie to the increasingly frantic fray came to the rescue.
Little danger was apparent as the former Arthurlie signing collected a loose ball near the touchline with two St Roch’s players close but he audaciously shimmied his way past their challenges before looking up and curling an exquisite shot high into the far corner of the net
Candy Rock goalkeeper James McGuire who had pulled off a string of fabulous saves up to this point was beaten for the first time and shortly afterwards he was not so much picking the ball out of his net again as clawing the ball back from over the line after his handling blunder failed to keep out a halfhit, bobbling McKie shot through a crowded penalty area.
At 2-2 and against 10 men, Largs went for the jugular but almost paid a price for their gung-ho approach as a long kick-out was flicked on and St Roch’s hitman Eddie Ferns, scorer of both theirgoals, scampered away with defenders trailing in his wake but his finishing skills for once deserted him and McGowan dived in to save at his feet.
It was yet another game-changing moment because Largs Thistle’s next foray forward saw John Carter skip past his marker out wide before firing over a cross that the impressive Ben Black converted with ease to net his side’s third goal in a seven-minute burst.
The home team could not sit back now but their pushing forward in search of an equaliser left gaps to exploit and Largs took full advantage, firstly when Stuart Faulds weaved his way into the box to set up Mark Millar to make the scoreline read 4-2 and the coup de grace was applied by another substitute Graham Muir in added-on time after an attempted clearance by goalkeeper McGuire rebounded off one of his own defenders and presented the Largs player with a near open goal.
Largs gaffer Arnie admitted: “I always felt we were going to have a spell when things would start happening for us but I didn’t think it would be the last 15 minutes of the game.
“Up until then we had struggled against a St Roch’s team who made it very hard for us to create openings just as they did in the first game.
“At 2-0, I still thought there was enough time to get ourselves back into it and credit to the players for continuing to plug away when not a lot was going their way, particularly first half when we went in 1-0 down despite dominating.”
The opening 45 minutes saw Largs, with a strong wind at their backs, on the ascendancy for the most part but a combination of missed chances and resolute St Roch’s defending prevented any breakthough and as so often happens the goal that was arrived at the other end against the run of play.
On the half-hour mark, the dangerous Ferns won a free kick out near the left touchline and he whipped over a low driven shot, with everyone expecting a cross, that left McGowan red-faced as it found the net at his near post.
St Roch’s then enjoyed their best spell in the game while at the same time comfortably defending the 1-0 scoreline in their favour however they were never the same team after the hammer blow suffered in the run up to half time when whistler Matthew McDermid adjudged newcomer Dean Kindlan’s tackle on Largs frontman Black to be a sending-off offence.
Admittedly the Candy went on to double their advantage in 67 minutes when a Ferns raced onto a through ball to sublimely direct a low shot beyond McGowan but Largs Thistle used their extra man to put them under the cosh for long spells and the pressure eventually told in the closing stages.
Largs marksman Black said: “It wasn’t one of our best performances in a playing sense but I thought we showed great battling qualities to keep pegging away at St Roch’s.”