Old boys haunt Honest Men in Talbot triumph
Auchinleck Talbot 1 Ayr united 0
Tommy Sloan saluted Auchinleck Talbot for creating one of the biggest shock in Scottish Cup history as his Junior Kings sent Ayr crashing to a humiliating defeat.
Fittingly, it was two ex-somerset Parkers who combined to send the Championship high-flyers reeling at a bouncing Beechwood Park before a sell-out crowd.
Mark Shankland, who made his Ayr debut at only 15 before being involved in a bitter contract wrangle that saw him join Talbot as an amateur, came off the bench to fire over a free-kick which Craig Mccracken headed home to spark wild scenes.
Talbot boss Sloan, who has won six Scottish Junior Cups in 15 years at the club, said: “It was the plan to stay in the game and bring on a few subs in the last bit of the match.”
Sloan, who spent three
MATCH STATS
54
2 2 1 0 Shots on target 7 Shots off target 14 12 0 0
Possession
Corners Offside Fouls Cautions Sending- of fs capped a strong display with the winner in a historic Cup upset. 46
Talbot’s 3 0
16 2
0 years at Ayr in the 1980s before being freed by Ally Macleod, added: “In my time here, it’s the biggest win.
“We’ve always been there or thereabouts in the big Junior competitions, but this is something else.
“Craig Mccracken has scored a lot of important goals playing at centre-half, so a lot of credit goes to him.
“The incentive really showed today because every one of them was up for it.
“We’ve done Junior football proud.”
Shell-shocked Ayr boss Ian Mccall admitted the day belonged to Talbot.
He said: “I don’t want to say it’s the worst result of my career as that would take away from Auchinleck. They deserved to win.
“This had nothing to do with us being without Lawrence Shankland. Our players had more than enough about them.”
Talbot started with four ex-ayr players and two on the bench. They soaked up Ayr’s early pressure while trying to counter on the break.
And it almost paid off after 27 minutes when Graham Wilson lashed home a Gordon Pope free-kick that sparked confusion in the box but the linesman’s flag killed their joy.
Michael Moffat and Robbie Crawford went close for Ayr, who lost Andy Geggan before the break with Liam Smith taking his place.
The second half was helter skelter, but it was Talbot who dealt the killer blow in 78 minutes when Mccracken scored a goal he will never forget.
Ayr threw on Stevie Bell as an emergency striker but not even four minutes of stoppage time could save them.
STAR MAN: CRAIG MCCRACKEN