Rovers on course for a cup double

Two semi-final wins in a week for champs Balfron

Doune made the midweek journey to Shettleston and produced a fine all round performance to record a comprehensive win and take an early lead at the top of the Caledonian Premier League.

Andy Innes almost gave them a great start when his shot from 25 yards came crashing back off the underside of the bar.

But seconds later, Broomhouse swept into a 1-0 lead. A midfielder

Buchlyvie Utd 1 Balfron Rov... 6

Forth and Endrick League winners Balfron Rovers have given themselves the chance to land a trophy treble after reaching the finals of the both the Telfer Cup and the Cameron Cup.

They were short of regulars for their Telfer semi-final against Buchlyvie United at Drymen on Sunday — but so saw his shot rebound off the inside of the post and it fell to a colleague who drilled a low shot past Colin Dormer.

Doune equalised after 12 minutes when Jonny Burns’ corner was headed home by Chris Dougherty and 10 minutes later, another corner — this time from Alan More — was met by Murray Docherty to make it 2-1.

Alan Inglis made it 3-1 after Andy Innes launched a throw deep into the heart of the Broomhouse penalty area for him to climb above two were Buchlyvie and Rovers ran out comfortable winners.

Stand-in striker Stuart MacKay gave them the best possible start after only two minutes and added a second 15 minutes later.

Buchlyvie hit back and, after a goalmouth scramble, referee Hodgson judged that the ball had crossed the line and it was 2-1.

Only a goal behind, Buchlyvie raised their game but could make little of the Balfron defence and before the interval Mark Hailstones scored Balfron’s third. defenders and head the ball high into the top corner.

Three minutes after the break, Doune extended their lead. Dougherty drove a 50-yard pass down the left to Inglis whos out-jumped his marker to nudge the ball forward then latch on to the loose ball to slip the ball under the advancing keeper from 14 yards.

The points were secured in 66 minutes with a great goal. More passed to Lukasz Duszynski, who sped past the full back and without breaking stride curled an inviting

MacKay claimed his hattrick early in the second period to seal the win and further goals from Craig Reid and Kevin Meggat confirmed a comfortable progression.

They will meet Gargunnock in the final on Sunday at Drymen’s Shandon Park after they came through 5-3 against Drymen United at Thornhill.

Gargunnock had the better of the first hour but in the closing stages they had to fight to hold on as Drymen threw in everything in a bid to save the game. Their hero was Darren Petrie who scored cross, high into the middle of the goal where Niall McClure timed his run to power home a header from eight yards.

Three minutes into added time, Broomhouse were rewarded for their perseverance with a second goal, much to the annoyance of the Castle defence. They were adamant the ball had gone out of play before a home player stabbed the ball home.

DOUNE CASTLE: Dormer, McClymont, Dougherty, D Innes, Docherty (Statter) A Innes (Skinner), Burns, McClure, Duszynski, Inglis, More Substitutes: four goals, with Nathan Binnie completing their tally.

Drymen had better luck in their Cameron Cup semi-final against Killearn. Heavy rain ruled out Donaldson Park in Balfron and it was agreed to take the tie to Killearn.

It looked for a time as if ground advantage was going to work in their favour and they had much the better of the first quarter taking a two-goal lead.

United, however, eventually settled and a display of their usual deadly finishing with four goals from Scott Cowan and one from Jack O’Donnell gave them a 5-3 win to book their place in the final.

Kippen were Balfron’s opponents in the other semifinal at Drymen and although the champions held the upper hand from the start, they took their time to break through a spirited Kippen defence.

However, Hailstones broke the deadlock on 21 minutes and in the next 13 minutes they added three more with goals from Alan Forbes, Richard Hailstones and Kevin Meggat.

Meggat and Scott Ross completed the scoring in the second half for a 6-0 win.