Glenafton made two changes to the eleven that started against St. Cadoc’s on Saturday with Cammy Ross and Ollie Rowe (unavailable) making way for Lyall Holding and summer signing Jared Willet making his Glens debut.

In the Darvel line-up was former Glenafton midfielder Leon Murphy.

On a glorious evening Recreation Park as the Scottish Junior Cup winners Darvel hosted Glenafton in their first competitive game of the season.  The two sides met here in the opening game of the league campaign last season with a Michael Moffat double cancelling out Murphy’s strike for Glens to take the three points. The sides also met in the last game of the season with Jordan Moore scoring the only goal of the game to secure the three points. Both Moffat and Moore have since moved on.

Although the first half proved to be a tight contest with little in the way of clear-cut chances for either side the second half started brightly for Darvel breaking the deadlock on 54 minutes. The home side stroked the ball from left to right just inside their own half before Connor McGlinchey pinged a low diagonal pass to the right-hand side of the ‘D’ where Declan McDonald with his back to goal, turned and lashed a ferocious shot into the far side of the net.

Glenafton drew level on 62 minutes after winning a free kick tight on the left-hand touchline just inside the Darvel half. Jared Willet launched the kick high and deep into the box where keeper Andrew Wilson advanced to the six-yard line to leap and grab the ball only to let it slip from his hands and bounce back about up shoulder high and as the keeper tried to punch it clear Shuggy Kerr was quick off the mark and with his hooked the ball over his shoulder and into the gaping net.  

On 82 minutes the visitors scored what proved to be the winner after Darvel pass was intercepted not far from where Willet’s free kick had been launched into the box. On this occasion it was clipped high to the far side of the ‘D’ where Michael Mullen trapped the ball with a defender tight on his back, the striker then feigned to the left as if to strike the bouncing ball only to switch to right and roll a diagonal ball into the right hand of the box for the overlapping Evan Maley to coolly curl the ball beyond the reach of the keeper.