‘BOT GO DOWN IN CUP FINAL PREVIEW
Auchinleck boss disappointed by‘freak’winner
Auchinleck Talbot fell to a disappointing defeat in a Junior Cup final dress rehearsal.
A Craig McCracken own goal was enough to separate the sides infront of a bumper Monday night crowd at Hurlford’s Blair Park.
Auchinleck boss Tommy Sloan said: “There’s no doubt we deserved something from the game as we were the best team.
“I thought we started quite nervously, for whatever reason I don’t know. But going behind to a bit of a freak goal knocks the boys and it’s a bit of a blow.
“But after that we dominated the game, but just couldn’t get on the scoresheet.
“It’s hard to get momentum going and keep it going. But the thing is we have done ourselves as we failed to score and that’s disappointing.
“You don’t win if you don’t score.
“The past few weeks have been frustrating as before that we had been pretty freescoring.
“But at the crunch time we have struggled for goals, which just won’t do.”
Auchinleck face a North Ayrshire double header as they head to Kilbirnie tonight (Wednesday) and will travel to top of the table Kilwinning Rangers on Saturday.
Talbot still have the title in their hands as they trail Kilwinning by 10 points, with three games in hand - meaning Saturday’s game could end up being a title decider.
Sloan said: “We have to move on now as there’s no point in dwelling on this game.
“It’s not over yet and there’s plenty of football still to be played.
“We will go to Kilbirnie on Wednesday and try and beat them. That won’t be easy as they are a good team.
“We now need to work hard on Wednesday which won’t be easy as Kilbirnie will be fresh as they haven’t played since Saturday.”
Hurlford grabbed the only goal on 21 minutes when Scott Ferguson whipped a dangerous ball into the area. It caught McCracken out and in a freak incident he somehow headed it past his own goalkeeper, Andy Leishman, from 18 yards.
Former Ayr United shotstopper Ally Brown put in an incredible man of the match performance, including a remarkable TRIPLE save five minutes from time.
Speaking about his performance, Brown said: “It needs to be done at this stage of the season, everyone has to be on top form.
“Individual performances mean nothing if you don’t get the points.”