Cambuslang Rangers 1-2 Lanark
United
O.V.D. Scottish
Cup 1st Round
Saturday 5th
October
At Somervell
Park
Cambuslang Rangers were dumped out of the
Scottish Cup in the first round after a controversial penalty was awarded in
the 4th minute of stoppage time. defender Craig Ferguson was adjudged to have
brought down the Lanark forward inside the box when it was clear to everyone in
the ground that he clearly played the ball. But the man in the middle saw
differently and awarded the spot kick that would send the Lang out of the
competition with a bitter taste in the mouth. Cambuslang also had 3 'Goals'
chopped off and also hit the woodwork twice. So from those stats
you could see it was going to be 'one of those days'
Cambuslang went into the game full of confidence
after a good start to the league saw then sitting in third spot and there
opponents a League below. The home side had an almost full squad to pick from
with only long term injury Derek Watson missing.
The home side started brightly enough and indeed
almost scored inside three minutes. Nippy front man Paul Dignam found himself
in on goal after Holmes played him in and with only the keeper to beat his lob
came back off the bar and was then cleared. The ball just wouldn't come down
for the Lang striker. Lanark picked up an early booking when Wilkinson was
yellow carded for a crude challenge on McGregor. Cambuslang then went close
from a header by Webster, which went just over the bar. Cambuslang picked up a
needless booking when Fay was late with a poor challenge on Miller. The home
fans were stunned into silence on 15 minutes when Lanark took the lead totally
against the run of play. The goal came out of nothing and when Lanark Parry
unleashed a blistering 25 yard drive it flew past Wardlaw and into the back of
the net. Wardlaw's first touch of the ball was to pick it out of the net.
Cambuslang responded in the right manner and almost got back on level terms
soon after. A good turn on the edge of the box by Holmes and he made space for
the shot which forced the keeper into a finger tip save and he knocked it onto
the bar and it was then cleared by the defence. Wardlaw was called upon near
the end of the half and it was another blistering strike but this time the Lang
keeper saved well to prevent the visitors going into the break with a 2 goal
lead.
H-T 0-1
At the start of the 2nd half Lanark made a
change when Weightman replaced Wilkinson. The sub made an immediate impact when
he picked up a booking for a crunching tackle on Lang's McGregor. Cambuslang
should have found themselves on level terms on 55 minutes. Holmes met a cross
into the box but he put his free header into the arms of the keeper when he
really should have scored. Cambuslang did manage to get back on level terms on
the hour mark. A superb run down the wing by defender saw him skip pass a
couple of tackles before delivering a dangerous cross into the box which had to
be dealt with by the Lanark Defence, unfortunately for the visitors Murphy's
attempted clearance was bulleted into the back of his own net. Cambuslang made
a change soon after and replaced the hard working Holmes with Daisley.
Cambuslang thought they had got their noses in front when Sub Daisley had the
ball in the net but this was ruled out for offside. Taylor then replaced
McFarlane. Cambuslang's Carmichael tested the keeper from long range that he
could only parry but no one was following up for the Lang to take advantage of
the keeper’s mistake. The same player then fired inches over the bar with the
keeper struggling to get back on his line. The visitors looked quite happy to
sit back and soak up the pressure and hit on the break. They them picked 2
bookings in quick succession when Slater and Thomson were yellow carded for
fouls on Carmichael and Daisley respectively. Cambuslang then saw another
chance go a begging when McGregor's deep cross was met by the out stretched
foot of Dignam but he couldn't direct the effort on goal. Cambuslang replaced
Balmain with Paterson late on. The home side looked to have sneaked the
win in the last minute when Carmichael turned on the edge of the box and fired
a superb shot into the top corner but the Lang celebrations were cut short when
the referee awarded a free kick against the Lang man and chopped off the
perfectly good goal. This stunned the home support that voiced their
displeasure toward the man in black. Just as everyone was gearing up for
the replay, next weekend, came the shocking decision to award the visitors a
penalty deep into stoppage time. As Lanark broke up field and with the Lang
defence a bit stretched it was young defender Ferguson who was covering the
ground and his superb tackle on the Lanark man was ruled illegal and the
referee pointed to the spot. Much to the annoyance of the Lang players who then
had Paterson booked for over protesting. After the mellay died down Lanark's
Barr calmly stepped up to send Wardlaw the wrong was and Lang out of the cup.
The referee was surrounded by Lang players and coaching staff at the final
whistle looking for an explanation to his poor handling of the But at the end
of the day if you don't put the ball in the back of the net you don't win
games.
F-T 1-2
Line up's
Lang
Wardlaw, Ferguson, McGregor, Kavanagh, Webster,
Balmain (Paterson 89),Fay, Dignam, Holmes (Daisley 60), Carmichael, McFarlane
(Taylor 70)
Subs not used McGovern & Stoddart
Lanark
McKenna, Thomson, Parry, Murphy, Slater, Stark,
Barr, Miller, Wilkinson, McNulty, Rankin
Subs from Arnott, Brown, Weightman, Mahon &
Milligan