A Sunny away day for Swifts

Nov 6 2007

BANKFOOT, Jeanfield Swifts, Coupar Angus and Blairgowrie were all playing Scottish Cup second round ties on Saturday.

Blairgowrie are the only team to have secured a place in the third round draw, although Swifts could join them as they held Sunnybank to a 2-2 draw at the Riverside Stadium and face a replay this Saturday at Sunnybank’s Heathery Fold.

Bankies lost 2–1 to Carluke Rovers at Coronation Park, while Coupar were well and truly walloped 6-0 by Ballingry Rovers, at Foxhall Park.

Jeanfield had to come from behind twice to earn themselves a replay.

This was a cracking encounter with play surging from end to end and the teams sharing four goals.

The first goal put the Aberdonians ahead in the 16th minute when a cross wasn’t dealt with by goalkeeper Andy Mackie and his defenders and landed with Keith Thomson just outside the penalty box and he promptly cracked the ball into the back of the net.

Swifts shrugged off this disappointment and in the 32nd minute Tony Holt set off on a mazy solo run that took him into the Sunnybank penalty box where he was brought down by a hefty tackle and the referee pointed to the penalty spot.

Tony took the spot kick and dispatched it into the corner of the net to make it 1-1.

Sunnybank regained their lead midway through the second half. Alex Reid’s shot took an unfortunate deflection off a Swifts player and landed in the back of the net and Swifts were trailing 2-1.

Swifts set about getting the equaliser but their chances took a knock when they were reduced to 10 men after 75 minutes.

Jason Scrymgeour picked up a second yellow card and was sent off.

The Swifts 10 men however pulled out all the stops and in the 85th minute they were rewarded. Swifts had a corner which was taken by Tony Holt and he swung it into the heart of the penalty box and Swifts centre-half James Killin crashed it into the top corner of the net to make it 2-2.

The Bankfoot–Carluke Rovers clash was another enthralling cup tie and again all credit to both teams.

Rovers swept into the attack from the kick off and in four minutes Darren McGarry had to make a great save from Gary Fleming.

The Bankies keeper had to produce another top class save two minutes later when another Rovers attack saw their full-back Willie Soutar on the overlap and he connected with the ball on the edge of the penalty box but again Darren McGarry denied them an early lead.

Bankies began to get their act together after this and they forced a couple of corners.

Then, in the 20th minute, a great chance came their way when the Rovers defence were caught out of position by a through ball from Danny Dobbie and it sent Alan Stewart racing in on the Rovers’ goal and through on the goalkeeper Peter McFarlane. But the striker couldn’t quite get the ball under control and it broke away from him and was kicked away by the keeper.

Bankies were forced to make a change in 25 minutes when Steven Moon was injured in a tackle and couldn’t continue.

George Lamond came off the bench to replace him.

The Bankies came very close to taking the lead on the half hour mark when Kenny Hynd was only inches away from making contact with a cross into the Rovers’ goalmouth but he didn’t get the vital touch.

The Bankies took the lead in 45 minutes with a stunning strike from Alan Stewart from 20 yards.

The Rovers went chasing the equaliser and in the 55th minute they were rewarded.

A cross into the Bankies penalty box from their right wing wasn’t dealt with by the Bankies defence and the ball was picked up by Andy Barr who made it all square at 1-1. Carluke scored what proved to be the winner in the 81st minute.

Bankies manager Robin Wood, although disappointed at going out of the cup, said: “I was delighted with the amount of effort the players put into this tie and I felt for them that they didn’t at least get a replay.”

Blairgowrie swept into the attack from the kick-off in their tie against Darvel and they were beginning to become frustrated as they failed to drive home their attacks in the shape of goals.

They finally managed to break the deadlock in 31 minutes when Darren Neave hit a cross into the Darvel penalty box which was met by Paul Ireland. Paul hit the ball into the back of the net from about 12 yards.

Blair increased their lead to 2-0 in 40 minutes by Jamie Duncan.

The second half followed much the same pattern and in the 70th minute Blair emphasised their superiority with a third goal. Darren Neave was upended in the penalty box. Darren took the spot kick and made no mistake.

Coupar Angus found themselves two goals behind and down to 10 men after 15 minutes of their tie with Fife cracks Ballingry Rovers.

Willie Laing was the Coupar player who departed the scene after picking up two cautions. Both Ballingry goals were scored by Craig Smart from the penalty spot.

Ballingry went on to score four more goals in the second half. Ali Campbell, Lee Sutherland, James Adam and Craig Condie were the scorers.

Kinnoull for a second successive week turned in an excellent away performance.

They were guests of Lothian side Penicuik and went on to win 2-0.

Kinnoull dominated the opening period of this game and not surprisingly they took the lead after 12 minutes with a goal that finished off a really good move.

Robbie Holden was out wide on the right when he picked up the ball and proceeded to make his way past two defenders. He then laid the ball off to Gary Sweeney, who touched it on to Steve McManus and Steve blasted the ball past the keeper for an excellent goal.

Kinnoull almost increased their lead in 53 minutes when Steve McManus pushed through a great pass to Gary Sweeney and it put him in the clear inside the penalty box but the keeper managed to clear.

After this let off Penicuik had their best spell but a resolute Kinnoull defence kept them at bay.

Kinnoull virtually clinched the points when they went 2-0 ahead in 76 minutes. Steve McManus took a free-kick and flighted it into the Penicuik penalty box and Mark Gordon outjumped a bevy of defenders to flick a header past the keeper for a well taken goal.

This win moved Kinnoull three places up the league table and are now third from the top.

Scone Thistle and Luncarty met in the central league at Thistle’s RDM ground and it was the Bleachers who drew first blood in this game when Billy Carle rifled home a free kick from 20 yards.

Scone retaliated to this setback and in 40 minutes they got back on level terms. The Bleachers Mike Lindsay stopped the ball from crossing the goal line with his hand and was sent off for his trouble and Thistle were awarded a penalty from which Alan Cameron scored.

Luncarty’s 10 men came under a lot of pressure in the second half but they defended well and kept the Thistle defence on its toes.

In 65 minutes Thistle, after a bout of pressure, took the lead when a cross from Jonathan Brown was met by Craig Innes. His shot for goal was well saved by Alan Duncan but he could only parry the ball and it broke to Mark Hamilton who banged it past the keeper from close range.

Gerrard Kelly came on as a sub in 80 minutes and with what was practically his first touch of the ball he laid the ball off to Mark Hamilton who’s shot from close range seemed to take a deflection before it landed in the back of the net to make it 3-1 and secure three points for them.