Like lambs to the slaughter
Glens run riot against youngsters to equal record win
Manager Willie Harvey admitted he did not enjoy watching his team equal the club’s highest ever margin of victory in its 121-year history.
Rutherglen Glencairn ran rampant over a Glentanar side filled with young and inexperienced players who headed home to Aberdeen on the back of an 11-0 hammering.
The returning Gary Smith netted four of the goals – including a first half hat-trick – while Jay McKay, Ryan McArdle, Jordan Leyden, Jamie Hamilton and Sean McGuire all got in on the act.
However, boss Harvey was quick to praise the visitors for their work ethic and even revealed that he was pleading with the referee not send one of their players off.
“They were a very young team and we done what we should have done,” he said.
“Their wee goalkeeper pulled off a couple of terrific saves and if it wasn’t for him it could have been more.
“But it was the first time I had ever seen my team win 11-0 and I actually didn’t enjoy it.
“I would have if it was against an older and experienced team.
“They came here with a game plan which was never going to work, but they didn’t know much about us.
“They played high which left them open at the back. It was like lambs to the slaughter.
“They were trying to play us offside and you might catch us once or twice but once we figured it out, every
time we went forward we looked like scoring. Credit has to go to the young boys because they kept going and didn’t do what a seasoned junior team might do when losing by a big margin and start kicking the opposition.
“The referee even went to send one of their players off and we were screaming at him not to.
“We didn’t want them to go a man down but we were told there was someone assessing him and he had to go by the laws of the rule book.
“But that’s not to take anything away from us, they can only play what is in front of them and I came away happy we were in the next round.”
The Scottish Junior Cup second round clash was the first time both teams had met, but the hosts were totally dominant from the first whistle to the last. They opened the scoring after two minutes before going in at the break 6-0 up.
And Harvey was stern with his players at half-time to cut out the showboating in the second half or face being substituted.
He added: “It was a real horrible feeling. I told the boys at half-time that I didn’t want anyone to be showboating and embarrassing a young side like that.
“If any one of them had they knew they would be coming off and standing on the sidelines with me.
“We played some decent football and scored some good goals. I said I didn’t mind how many goals we scored,”
The Glens will face a different and difficult test this coming Saturday as Troon make the trip to the Celsius Stadium on league duty.
And Harvey knows that they will be confident given last weekend’s result, but must be wary of a different challenge the Ayrshire side pose.
He added: “To be honest, Saturday was not the best we have played, I think we have played better than that against better opposition.
“But I’ve told the players they’ll need to raise their game for next week.
“I expect it to be a close game. From what I’ve seen of them online, they are quite an experienced team and have spent a few seasons in the Super Premier.
“We will need to press them and make sure they do not dictate the play.
“We need to start getting points on the table.”