Young Pupils squander place in league cup final
THE YOUNG Pupils and their supporters left Kintyre Park not quite knowing how they managed to lose a thrilling cup tie.
After dominating for long spells and having a host of excellent chances, the ball refused to cross the line for the home side, while the visitors pinched a scrappy goal to progress through to the final.
The under-14s set out for their first ever game at the home of Campbeltown football on Sunday afternoon, against a backdrop of glorious sunshine and a good-sized crowd.
Far from being intimidated, the youngsters thrived on the occasion and dominated proceedings early on, almost taking an early lead through a McKil- lop header.
The home side enjoyed a lot of possession and were having a lot of joy through Gemmill down the right flank but he and Lang could not take either of their chances to put them ahead.
Their profligacy was to prove costly, as on the break the visitors struck a fine shot which was expertly saved by McKellar. His strong hand kept the initial effort out but an away attacker swooped in on the loose ball to slot home into the bottom left corner against the run of play.
With a number of fresh legs on at the start of the second half, the Pupils once again dominated their opponents and had a host of chances to level the tie.
The best opportunity fell to substitute Wallace, when he weaved through the Dumbarton defence and looked certain to score, only to take one touch too many allowing the advancing keeper to snuff out the chance.
With time running out, the home side piled on the pressure and very nearly got a deserved equaliser when Ross Brown’s shot passed the keeper, only for him to recover and stop the ball agonisingly close to the line as the shot ran out of steam.
As the clock ticked down, Dumbarton Yellows nearly rubbed salt in the wounds as they made their only clear break in the second half but, with only the keeper to beat, their striker missed the target from six yards.
After a number of corners which saw shots sail either side of the post, the clock did finally beat the Pupils in the end, meaning Dumbarton progressed to the final of the cup where they will face PFD United.
The Pupils players gave what was arguably their best display of the season, and were unfortunate to find themselves on the losing end and denied a cup final finale at the end of an excellent campaign.