DUFFTOWN.......................1 JOHNSTONE BURGH.......4

Burgh are just miles ahead

Johnstone Burgh overcame more than four hours of travelling to stick four past Dufftown, sealing a place in the fourth round of the Scottish Junior Cup in the process.

Despite an early start and a gruelling trip up the A9, the visitors dominated at Westburn Park.

After a combative opening 25 minutes, Stewart Fife opened the scoring with an excellent long-range hit from 20 yards.

Sam Esplin doubled Burgh’s lead before Jason Hardie won, and then missed, a penalty to give the visitors even more breathing space.

In the second half Burgh missed another penalty, with Gordon Meredith the guilty party, before Dufftown pulled one back through Shaun Gair to make it a nervy finish.

The visitors grabbed their third through Jamie Sidebothan just three minutes later though, with Hardie making certain of the win late on.

Gaffer Jamie McKim said his players were a credit to the club, especially with how well they dealt with the long trip north.

He said: “The bus left Keanie Park at 7.30am and we were on the bus for four hours, 20 minutes in total on the way up.

“That’s not the ideal preparation for any game but the boys dealt with it really well and we actually started the game quite quickly considering.

“We totally dominated the game and the only negative was their goal but I really don’t have any complaints.

“I couldn’t be any happier with the boys. They got some heavy treatment on Saturday on top of the long trip with some really heavy challenges going in on them.”