Cambuslang
Rangers 4-2 Cumnock
West of
Scotland Cup 1st Round
Saturday 18th
September
at Somervell
Park
Cambuslang Rangers progressed into the 2nd Round of the West of
Scotland Cup for the first time in 4 years. Saturday's 4-2 over Ayrshire
opponents Cumnock was just the result and the performance all the fans had
hoped for, but not many really expected. A superb hat trick from Alan McCrae
and 1 from Craig Ferguson sent the Lang into the hat for the 2nd round draw.
Both teams had suffered heavy defeats prior to Saturday's meeting
and both sets of fans expect more. Cumnock wend down 6-0 to Larkhall while
Cambuslang lost 5-1 to Kilsyth.
Assistant manager Scott Archer was the man in charge as Andy
Cunningham had prior arrangements.
Cambuslang welcomed back keeper Craig Rowan at the expense of Lowe
and Galloway and Graham had to make do with starts on the bench as in came
Coulter and Ferguson. Sponsor's Man of the Match Alan Paterson produced
arguably his best performance in a Lang jersey and deserved the applause as he
has been the target of some , justified, criticism this season.
Cambuslang made a bright start to the match and after 6 minutes
McCrae should have opened the scoring. A Paul Burns effort was blocked and the
ball spun into the path of McCrae but he somehow struck the post from 6 yards
out when it looked easier to score, thankfully this was NOT a sign of things to
come. The home side were doing that little bit more than the visitors and
deservedly took the lead on 17 minutes. McCarroll broke from midfield and with
the Cumnock back line looking for the linesman to flag him offside the Lang
player continued his run and played the perfect pass for McCrae who cut inside
one defender before slotting the ball past the Nock goalie. Cumnock's reply was
instant and almost levelled from the kick off but Rowan was in the right place
as he superbly blocked Kerr's effort, but Muir followed up and to the relief of
the Lang defence headed off the bar. The visitors were beginning to pick some
holes in the Lang back line and on 20 minutes they had Fisher to thank after he
headed off his own line. A mistake by McGrath almost proved costly as he tried
to see the ball out of play but he was robbed by Kerr who crossed for the
unmarked Muir who's poor header was cleared. Ferguson for Cambuslang was the
first player into the referee's note book after he gave away a silly free kick.
Cambuslang went close through both Burns and McCarroll as
they seen their efforts fizz past the post. A crazy 4 minute spell
followed. As the match was heading to the interval Cambuslang found themselves
going in at the break 2-1 behind. Rowan produced a stunning 1 handed save but
from the resulting corner Kerr's effort sneaked over the line despite Rowans
efforts to claw the ball back. The linesman was in the perfect position and
awarded the goal with not too many protests from the Lang players. This was
quickly followed by Cumnock's second. A spectacular effort from 25 yards flew
past Rowan who could do little about it Muir the scorer. So Cambuslang found
themselves going in at the interval 2-1 behind to a side that very rarely
threatened.
H-T 1-2
Assistant Scott Archer must have said all the right things at half
time as Cambuslang drew level on 50 minutes. McCrae sprung another poor attempt
at offside from the visitors and he calmly notched both his and Cambuslang's
second. The home side were forced into a change when Feenie went off
with a knock. He was replaced by Galloway. The home side got their noses
back in front on 57 minutes. Alan McCrae turned provider this time as he played
in Ferguson who made no mistake sticking the ball into the net. Lang keeper
Rowan was still being tested but was up to the challenges as produced another
fine stop this time from Kerr. A mistake from Paterson allowed Brown in on
Rowan but again the Lang keeper blocked the effort. Cambuslang
grabbed the killer 4th on 72 minutes and it was worth the wait. Alan McCrae
picked up the ball 25 yards out, took one look up to see where the keeper was
and planted the ball into the top corner. A stunning strike to secure his hat
trick. The visitors were not finished as the had another couple of great
chances to get back into the game but Rowan thwarted ant attempts with some
fine goal keeping.
F-T 4-2
Lang
Rowan, Fisher, McGrath, Feenie (Galloway 53), Ferguson, Coulter,
Paterson, McCarroll, Holmes, McCrae & Burns.
Subs Not Used
Petrik, Love