Spot of bother

Harthill Royal ......... 3 Royal Albert ........... 3

Harthill Royal suffered Scottish Junior Cup agony as West Lothian’s last representatives in the national cup competition were dumped out on penalties after a third round replay against Larkhall-based Royal Albert Athletic.

The two sides couldn’t be separated during the 90 minutes last weekend so they had to do it all again at Gibbshill Park on Saturday – with the hosts firmly in control early on before being edged out 5-3 on penalties.

Royal midfielder Ross Donnelly beat the Athletic keeper to prod home the opener before Steph Carr’s men nabbed two more goals in the first half hour as they put themselves in the driving seat for a place in the fourth round draw.

However, Athletic fought back as Mikey Arthur reduced the deficit before a brace from Alan Campbell took the game to spot-kicks as both sides passed up opportunities to finish the game off before the final whistle.

The visitors held their nerve in the spot-kick shoot-out to book a home tie against Clydebank.

Not enough Ross Donnelly opens the scoring for Harthill but they let a three-goal lead slide and were edged out on penalties