FOURTEEN Ayrshire sides made it through to round three of the South of Scotland Challenge Cup on Saturday – but while there were some big wins along the way, there were plenty of surprise results too.
Probably the biggest upset of the day, at least as far as Ayrshire’s teams were concerned, was the 2-0 win for Dalry Thistle away to Premier Division Glenafton Athletic – a result which cost Glens boss Ryan Caddis his job.
Second half strikes from Jamie Catlow and Fraser Cowan earned the Merksworth Park side a thoroughly deserved place in the hat for the third round and extended the Loch Park side’s winless run to seven games
Thistle became the second fourth-tier team to knock Glens out of a cup competition in three weeks and leading to the club announcing Caddis’s departure, “by mutual agreement”, the following day after less than 10 months in charge.
And Chris Wilson’s men weren’t the only Third Division side wearing big grins as the dust settled on Saturday’s action, either: the smiles were nearly as big just a few miles up the road from Loch Park as Lugar Boswell Thistle knocked out Second Division Craigmark Burntonians.
While the outcome itself may not have been a huge shock, with the Mark now having lost all eight of their games in all competitions so far this season, the margin of the Jaggy Bunnets’ win certainly raised an eyebrow or two, with Ewan McIver bagging a hat-trick and Jamie Donnelly, Liam Miller and Nathan Murray also on target in the hosts’ 6-1 win at Rosebank Park.
Also flying the flag in memorable fashion for Ayrshire’s fourth-tier contingent were Dean Keenan’s Girvan side, for whom Euan Smith’s penalty secured a 1-0 win away to East Second Division side Bathgate Thistle.
And there was a surprise result in Kilwinning, too, where Fourth Division Eglinton made light of the two-division gap between themselves and Ayrshire rivals Bonnyton Thistle, Marc Walker scoring four and Lewis McGinn also getting in on the action as the Jousters won 5-0.
Elsewhere on Saturday, Auchinleck Talbot made sure there would be no repeat of their shock Junior Cup exit seven days earlier as they won 4-1 away to Bo’ness Athletic.
Talbot’s hosts had previously knocked Beith out of the senior Scottish Cup, but Tommy Sloan’s men sidestepped a big potential banana skin with goals from Mick Wardrope, Austin Sime, Kyle McAvoy and Luke Gillies at Newtown Park.
Beith Juniors won by the same score at home to Armadale Thistle, though they had to come from behind to do it; Chris Strain’s men trailed at the interval against their East Second Division visitors, and were still behind as the game entered its final quarter, before Andy Monk finally levelled and an own goal and a late Carlo Monti double eventually saw them through.
Nathan Baird’s goal midway through the first half was enough for Troon to knock out East Premier visitors Dunbar United at Portland Park, while Dylan Dykes bagged a brace in a 3-1 win for Cumnock Juniors at home to Lanark United.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">⌛️Full Time at Townhead Park!<br><br>An own goal and a Dykes double sees us through<br><br>🏁3️⃣-1️⃣🟦<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/%F0%9D%91%B6%F0%9D%92%96%F0%9D%92%93Town%F0%9D%91%B6%F0%9D%92%96%F0%9D%92%93Team?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#𝑶𝒖𝒓Town𝑶𝒖𝒓Team</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ATN?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ATN</a></p>— Cumnock Juniors FC ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@CumnockJnrsFC) <a href="https://twitter.com/CumnockJnrsFC/status/1834969376694370536?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 14, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Travis Stacey scored his first two goals in a Largs Thistle jersey as Stuart Davidson’s men eased to a 7-0 win at home to Bellshill, with Jamie Martin netting a hat-trick and Lewis Davidson and Blair Devine also on target.
Kris Kerr, Chris McKnight and Lewis Morrison were the scorers for Hurlford United in their 3-2 win at home to Penicuik Athletic, while Darvel needed extra time to see off the challenge of Second Division Whitletts Victoria at Recreation Park, with the home side eventually edging through 3-2.
Irvine Meadow were the day’s biggest winners, with Tam Cruden helping himself to five goals in their 10-0 win away to Wigtown & Bladnoch and Jack McDowall, Lewis Neilson, Lewis Kennedy, Jonny Gallagher and Simon McBryde also on target.
And Kilbirnie Ladeside had five different goalscorers in their comfortable 5-1 win away to East Kilbride Thistle, with Danny Bamford, Scott Lewis, CJ Johnston and Jack Isherwood putting the tie beyond doubt in the first half before Ryan Connelly added the fifth early in the second half.
Saltcoats Vics emerged with much credit from their home tie against Musselburgh Athletic, though sadly not with a scalp to their name, with the visitors, who sit third from top of the East Premier League, needing a pair of penalties from Craig Stevenson and Nathan Evans for their 2-0 win.
Kello Rovers also put in a gutsy display against East Premier League opposition, only for Connor Willaghan’s 84th-minute strike to earn Sauchie a 2-1 win at Nithside Park, but a short distance down the road in Sanquhar, Nithsdale Wanderers of the South of Scotland League were well beaten, 10-2 at home to Broxburn Athletic of the Lowland League.
And Irvine Vics found big-spending St Cadoc’s too hot to handle at New Tinto Park, with Vics’ Premier Division hosts easing to a 7-0 win.
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