- William Hill Scottish Cup
- Preliminary Round 1
- Loch Park, New Cumnock
- Saturday 12th August 2017
- GLENAFTON ATHLETIC 6 (3)
- Chris Dallas 2, David Gray,
- Cameron Marlow, Kyle McAusland, Ryan McChesney
- Newton Stewart 0 (0)
GLORIOUS GLENAFTON SHINE IN SCOTTISH CUP DEBUT
Vice President John Campbell with shirt sponsor Roy Howat, Managing Director of Alba Planning Consultants Ltd.
- Glenafton starting XI
- Back row: Ryan Borris, Joe Andrew, Jamie McKernon, Chris Dallas, Brian McGarrity, Ryan McChesney.
- Front Row: Alan Cairns, Craig Menzies (captain), Darren McGill, David Gray, Kyle McAusland
The Glorious 12th August 2017 will go down as another major milestone in the history of Glenafton Athletic Football as they played for the first time in the ‘senior’ Scottish Cup. The New Cumnock side earned entry into Scottish Football’s oldest national competition as Scottish Junior Cup Winners & West Premier Division Champions and handled the occasion in fine style, defeating Newton Stewart of the South of Scotland League by six goals to nil, with three goals in each half.
The home side took the lead on 4 minutes after some fine build up play beginning with Jamie McKernon’s cross field pass from the right to Darren McGill to drive forward before picking out Joe Andrew on the edge of the box who quickly squared the ball to Kyle McAusland on the left flank and in a flash he returned the ball to the unmarked Chris Dallas in the heart of the box to fire a low shot into the corner of the net from 12 yards out.
The Creesiders countered through a good run into the box by Robert Middleton only for a perfectly timed tackle by Ryan McChesney preventing a shot at goal. Glens doubled their lead on 10 minutes after Dallas’ heels were clicked on the outskirts of the box and deadly dead-ball expert David Gray from 22 yards out curled the free-kick beyond wall and keeper.
Jamie McKernon and Gray were combining well in the middle of the park initiating Glens attacks through Ryan Borris and Darren McGill on both flanks, supported by the overlapping backs Kyle McAusland and Alan Cairns. Corner-kicks came and went as the home side continued to press while shots from Dallas, Andrew and Ryan Borris all sneaked inches wide of the post.
The visitors had their moments. Another Middleton run was ended by McChesney’s intervention and the ball mopped up by captain Craig Menzies; not impartial to breaking forward when the opportunity presented itself. Midway through the half Ryan McKie made excellent progress down the right before clipping a great ball to Middleton on the far side of the box and his perfect touch set up Ryan Dawson with a clear shot at goal, however his connection was poor and he gifted the ball to birthday boy Brian McGarrity. Dawson made amends minutes later when an audacious attempt from 30 yards out wide on the left had the Glens keeper scurrying backwards along his line into his goal and glad to see the ball land on the right side of the roof of their net. On 37 minutes McGarrity then advanced to the corner of the six- yard box to block an angled shot from McKie and quickly gather the loose ball.
Still enjoying the lion’s share of possession, the pride of dear New Cumnock roared forward and McKernon skipped a series of tackles to prowl into the box only for Stuart Cluckie to block his shot. Dallas with his way to goal blocked rolled the ball back to Borris and his powerful low shot from inside the D zipped wide of the post. Andrew played a one-two with McGill to advance further into the box before being abruptly halted by Cooksley, however from the deck he managed to feed the ball back to Borris to fashion a cracking shot that was brilliantly saved by Drysdale and pushed round the post. Once again, the corner kick was cleared beyond the box and the ball eventually fell for McKernon who combined with Borris and McAusland before feeding Andrew just inside the box where he was impeded by defender Micky Wilson. A quick confab between the East Kilbride cohort Gray and Dallas concluded with the latter taking the spot-kick and lashing the ball into the net to put the Glens 3-0 ahead on 44 minutes.
H/T Glenafton 3 Newton Stewart 0
Glens replaced Darren McGill with Cameron Marlow at the break and within two minutes of his introduction the midfielder added a fourth. Picking up the ball in the middle of the park he hit a forward pass to Andrew on the outskirts of the box who then released Alan Cairns to motor down the left flank and pick out Marlow who had now arrived in the box to side foot the ball beyound the advancing keeper.
The home side continued to turn the screw with another couple of corner-kicks that ended without reward. The tireless Kyle McAusland broke upfield and shook of a defender before firing a shot from the corner of the penalty that sailed over the bar; a trial run for what was to follow. At the other end the equally tireless McKie cutting in from the right was defied again by a fine save from McGarrity.
On the hour mark Glens freshened up the front line with Andrew and Dallas making way for John Carter and Mick McCann. Three minutes later the Glens extended their lead after Kyle McAusland chased down a knock-on from Carter and single-mindedly broke upfield shirking off defenders while electing not to use his nearby team-mates McCann and Marlow but instead a further few strides took him deep into the box and as the keeper advanced from his six-yard box the defender coolly picked his spot to stroke the ball into the net.
Credit to the Creesiders they continued to seek out crumbs of comfort and Middleton found himself in space only for his shot to dip over the bar. A free-kick floated into the box caused a bit of a scramble before the ball fell for substitute Rory Drysdale only for his close range shot to be blocked by Cairns.
With 15 minutes to go Marlow warmed the fingers of keeper Drysdale with a shot from 18 yards and four minutes later he beat the keeper with a low angled shot from well inside the box only for the ball to bounce off the base of the post and eventually cleared for a corner-kick from the left; which was quickly followed by another from the right. This time Gray’s kick was attacked at the edge of the six-yard by Ryan McChesney to bullet home a header that gave the keeper no chance to make it 6-0 on 80 minutes.
In the closing action of the game the defiant Drysdale pulled off fine saves from McCann and then Carter in a man-of-the-match performance for his side. The final whistle blew, handshakes exchanged and Glenafton will now host Golspie Sutherland in the 2nd Preliminary Round of the William Hill Scottish Cup.
F/T Glenafton Athletic 6 Newton Stewart 0
Glenafton Athletic: 1. Brian McGarrity 2. Kyle McAusland 3. Alan Cairns 4. Craig Menzies 5. Ryan McChesney 6. Jamie McKernon 7. Ryan Borris 8. David Gray 9. Chris Dallas (14. John Carter) 10. Joe Andrew (16. Mick McCann) 11. Darren McGill (12. Cameron Marlow) Subs not used 15. Dale Moore 17. Iain McKnight GK Scott Watson
Newton Stewart: 1. Euan Drysdale 2. Roddy Cooksley 3. Martyn Henry 4. Scott Forrester 5. Micky Wilson 6. Stuart Cluckie 7. Ryan McKie 8. Graeme Blain 9. Robert Middleton 10. Robbie Thomson 11. Ryan Dawson. Subs used: 16. Rory Drysdale 18. John Kiltie Sus Not Used: 12. Jason McAuley 14. Marc Whyte 15. Russel McQuaker
Glenafton Athletic 