South Lochaber miss out on final after shoot-out defeat
SOUTH Lochaber Thistle’s impressive run in the Bobby Thomson Challenge Cup came to a disappointing end on Saturday in East Kilbride after a tight draw ended in a 4-1 defeat on penalties.
A youthful and defensively compact Castle side held their nerve in the shoot-out to knock the Lochaber side out and progress to the next round of the Greater Glasgow Premier AFL cup competition.
SLT started the brighter but were unable to capitalise on early chances. A fantastic cut back from Munro saw Forbes have an opportunity to open the scoring but he saw his snap shot fly wide of the target.
SLT continued to keep the pressure on and a long ball against the run of play saw Crookston take the lead. It did not take long for SLT to level after a fantastic, lofted throughball from Forbes was met by an equally excellent finish by Martin Munro.
The Crookston deep defensive line allowed for plenty of SLT possession leading up to half time but the visitors were unable to break the deadlock.
Stunning save
Thistle had the opportunity to take the lead early in the second half when Forbes had a shot from 20 yards, destined for the left hand corner, deflected into the path of the ’keeper who managed to make a stunning save. This allowed Crookston to start a counter attack from which the home side once again took the lead, much to Thistle’s dismay.
In the searing heat both teams were beginning to tire but great work down the right-hand side saw SLT win a corner. Noble – Thistle’s man of the match – fired the ball in and his pinpoint cross was met expertly by Andrew Mclean who finished into the top corner.
At two a-piece the game could have gone either way and with eight minutes to go South Lochaber won a free kick on the edge of the box. Forbes lined it up and, for the second consecutive week, he blasted the ball past the ’keeper, nearly bursting the net in the process.
At 3-2 Crookston threw everything at the game and with 45 seconds left of injury time a goal-mouth scramble saw the Crookston striker poke home from close range to make it 3-3 at full time.
That exciting end to the match was followed by a tense shootout which saw Crookston convert four of their penalties to secure the cup win.
The club wish Crookston all the best in the final as SLT get set for a promotion-decider against Division 2 side Rannoch next week. The winner of that match will play in the Division 2 next season.