Mistakes cost Gers against Ayrshire giants in cup
Paul McColl believes early mistakes gave Cambuslang Rangers an uphill task in what was already a difficult cup tie on paper.
The Lang conceded two headed goals to Auchinleck Talbot in the opening 25 minutes which blew their chances of inflicting a shock in the New Coin Holdings West of Scotland Cup.
The Ayrshire men, who hold many junior football honours to their name, took the lead through Keir Milliken following a foul in the build- up before Ryan Kerr’s clearance fell to an opponent and Graham Wilson headed home for Talbot’s second.
Milliken then chipped keeper Ian Stewart in the second half to seal the victory but McColl praised his hard working side for their efforts.
He said: “We played fairly well. We played some not-bad stuff at times and had a couple of chances. In fact, in the first minute we had a chance and their goalie has made a wonder-save but you need to be good to beat him because he is a top keeper.
“I can’t remember who made the mistake with a pass for the first goal but Ryan McBeth made a foul on the player at the edge of the box.
“It was a great goal, a really wellworked one and the big boy has came across and headed it in. I’ve no complaints about the goal they scored, it was just the lead-up to it that was disappointing.
“The next goal, I don’t know what he has tried to do, Kerr has tried to launch it and he gave it straight to their player who whipped it in and they’ve scored. So before you know it you’re down 2-0.
“Apart from that we did well and we had plenty of the ball. There was probably the same amount of chances for each team. Performance- wise we’ve played better but we can’t really complain.
“You can’t make any mistakes against them because they are hammering teams three and four-nil in their own league.”
The Lang will want to put the defeat to the back of their minds as quickly as possible as cup games are coming thick and fast to Somervell Park.
They host Fife outfit Lochgelly Albert in the Scottish Junior Cup this weekend in what is understood to be the first ever meeting between the two sides.
And Cambuslang will have to be on their guard as the McBookie.com East South League team are in a good run of form. They sit in second place in their respective table and recently came from 2-0 down to beat surprise title challengers Pumpherston on Saturday.
But with few reports and background knowledge of their opponents, McColl will not want to go into this game with any complacency.
He said: “Next week is important: the Scottish Cup at home. You can’t ask for any more than that.
“I think I played against Lochgelly years ago as a player but I can’t remember who it was with. I don’t know much about that league.
“Last Saturday might be a step backwards to go forwards. You’re not going to be playing a team with the same quality as Auchinleck every week in our league. Other teams might not have capitalised on the mistakes we made.
“As long as we keep the league form going I’ll be happy with that. You would like a run in the Scottish but it’s the league which is important. You don’t want to go out two cups in a row.”