Johnstone Burgh up and running in landmark Scottish Cup journey
IRVINE MEADOW...1 JOHNSTONE BURGH...4
Johnstone Burgh enjoyed a Scottish Cup debut to remember as they marched into preliminary round two of the competition.
The West of Scotland League Premier Division side got one over First Division opponents Irvine Meadow and former gaffer Jamie McKim on Saturday.
Murdo MacKinnon's men will now face Whitburn Juniors for a place in the first round proper – the tie itself is a repeat of the Junior Cup final of 25 years ago which the West Lothian outfit won on penalties.
MacKinnon was back in the dugout for the trip to Medda and was forced to make three changes with Scott Forrester, Kyle Lafferty and Allan MacKenzie replacing the injured Matty Grant, Stuart Faulds and Ciaran Diver.
Ian McShane tested Medda keeper Jamie Barclay with a free-kick before the home side were reduced to 10 men. Kian Gilday was pulled down with referee Josh Hay deciding Lyall Holding had denied an obvious goalscoring opportunity and sent him packing.
Burgh executed the resulting free-kick perfectly. Lafferty looked as though he would strike the ball, however, he stepped over it and fooled the wall who jumped.
With the defensive wall disjointed, Blair Rossiter saw the perfect gap and he found the back of the net. However, Medda equalised on the hour mark to breathe fresh life into the tie.
Keeper Luke Scullion's clearance was intercepted just inside the opposition half by Dale Moore. The left-back played it first time to Euan Baird who raced forward. From there, he cut back to Jojo Gillespie who knocked the ball into the net from close range.
Burgh would soon restore their lead. A lovely cross from Aaron Mason found Lafferty who nodded home from close range.
The former Rangers and Northern Ireland forward showed his class once more as he earned his side a two-goal cushion with 10 minutes to go.
Two minutes later, substitute Aiden Gilmartin rounded off the scoring by hitting a sweet effort which whizzed past Barclay.
Boss MacKinnon was delighted to see his side overcome what he admitted was a tough game.
'I thought it was a hard game but was well contested against two good teams,' he said afterwards. 'Irvine are a real dangerous side as they have a bit of pace at the top end of the pitch but there was good football played by the two sides.
'We got the right players on the ball at the right time. We took the game by the scruff of the neck after the levelled. Getting pressure on their backline [was important] and we looked to get players higher. Overall 4-1 is a terrific result.'
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