Whitburn’s Junior Cup dream alive
Premier League side win fourth round spot
The wait was worth it for Whitburn after they stormed into the fourth round of the Scottish Junior Cup with an emphatic 4-1 victory over Benburb.
After several postponements, the match finally went ahead at Central Park on Saturday and the Burnie were no match for the West Region Central First Division promotion challengers.
Whitburn boss Euan Graham, in his first match since officially taking the reins, couldn’t have wished for a better start as Andy Thomson’s enticing cross was fired home at the back post by Martin Russell inside two minutes.
That set the tone for a brilliant first half from the hosts who seemed likely to score every time they went on the attack.
Russell set up Gary Brass but the striker’s effort lacked power, although he would make up for that a few minutes later as the Burnie stretched their lead on 15 minutes.
A long ball caught out the Benburb defence with Brass racing through before finding the net at the second time of asking.
The visitors would then enjoy a spell of dominance that saw them reduce the deficit through Scott Jarvie before Ryan Livingston almost tied things up but could only hit the post.
The home nerves were significantly eased when Thomson resorted his side’s two goal lead on 33 minutes when he took full advantage of a defensive slip to round the keeper and roll the ball into the empty net.
The second half was simply a case of not throwing it away and they were rarely threatened.
In fact, the hosts continued to dominate and although they would spurn several chances they got on the scoresheet once again on 72 minutes with the pick of the bunch as Brass confidently strode upfield past a string of defenders and fired an unstoppable effort into the bottom corner from 20 yards to seal the deal.
The Burnie will now face Yoker Athletic, who play in the same league as Benburb, at home in the fourth round in January and will be considered favourites to progress to the last-16.
Elsewhere, Linlithgow Rose set up a mouth-watering fourth round tie away at Blackburn United after they sealed a comfortable 3-0 win at South Division side Oakley United.
First half goals from Colin Strickland and Ruari MacLennan put the Rose on easy street before Tommy Coyne netted an historic second half goal - his 276th for the club, which ties David Blaikie’s alltime record for the club.