Jack Crawford

JOHNSTONE Burgh caretaker boss Tommy Montgomery reckons his players didn’t do themselves justice as they crashed out of the Scottish Junior Cup at the semi-final stage on Saturday.

Arthurlie triumphed 2-1 in the second leg at Keanie Park, after a pulsating 2-2 draw in Barrhead the previous weekend, to secure their place in the final against Darvel at Broadwood on June 2.

After a delayed kick-off to allow a crowd of almost 3,000 inside, the hosts got off to the perfect start when Kieran Brophy netted after Kyle Lafferty had flicked a corner-kick towards the back post.

However, Burgh couldn’t build on their lead, with Conor Bolger capping off a terrific solo run with a fine finish to bring the teams level on 23 minutes.

Arthurlie then found themselves in front after 50 minutes when Dylan Dykes teed up Dylan McGuigan to score.

Burgh failed to put the visitors under any sustained pressure before the final whistle and will now turn their attention towards trying to secure promotion to the Premier Division.

They will do so with a new manager, as ex-Cumnock boss Murdo MacKinnon was confirmed in the role less than 24 hours after Saturday’s disappointment.

Montgomery said: “In semifinals, it is often the team who make less mistakes that come out on top – and we made two howlers to give away two cheap goals.

“We got our noses in front and then it’s about being clever and managing the game but we didn’t hold onto the lead long enough.

“The first goal has invited them back into the game and, in the second half, we made a slack pass and they’ve got a bit of quality up front and took their chances well.

“We never had a period where Arthurlie would have felt under the cosh.

“I think we went out with a whimper, rather than a roar. We huffed and puffed but never really created anything and, when we got the ball out wide, the quality was lacking.

“The Scottish Cup final would have been the icing on the cake but now we’ve got eight cup finals to go in the league and we need to get points on the board.”

Burgh return to league action tonight as they make the short journey to the Brig O’Lea to face bottom club Neilston, with kickoff at 6.45pm, before another local clash on Saturday as they host Renfrew, with that game getting underway at 2pm.