SCOTTISH GAS	SCOTTISH CUP	Round 2
Stranraer	4 (2)	Dolan, O.G., Hunter, Edgar
Glenafton Athletic	0 (0)
Sat 25 Oct 2025	KO 3:00 pm	Stait Park, Stranraer.

Glenafton made three changes to the eleven that started against the Banks O’ Dee last Saturday with Ross Lindsay (suspended) and Callum Wilson making way for David Craig and Chris Erskine.  Both Evan Maley and Michael Mullen were no strangers to Stair Park. Evan joined the U20 side from Kilmarnock U20 in Season 2014/15 and was loaned out to Troon the following two seasons, while Michael had a brief loan spell from Kilmarnock B in 2021/22.

Stranraer kicked off and were quick off the mark enjoying possession in and around the Glens box. Another attack saw Kirk McKnight gather the ball on the right and slot a pass to James Dolan in the corner of box only for Craig McCracken to close him down, force him to retreat and eventually nick the ball to release Chris Erskine upfield and from the edge of the centre circle he clipped a diagonal pass to Hugh Kerr who then gave two defenders the slip before curling a low shot from the edge of the ‘D’ that slipped wide of the post.

Back came Stranraer, winning the ball in the centre circle and releasing Matthew Gillies to drive down the right to the edge of the box and slip the ball to Ryan Edgar who in turn cut it back from the bye-line for Dolan, only for his shot from 8 yards to be blocked by Blair Anderson and after a scramble a low drive from Aaron Quigg was pushed wide by keeper David Markey. The corner from the left was headed clear at the near post only for Stranraer to recover the ball and mount another attack down the right through Gilles to whip the ball low along the six-yard line where a back heel from Scot Rough rolled the ball into the path of Ryan Edgar to side foot it into the net. However, the offside flag was up at Rough’s touch.  Still only 5 minutes gone!

Play then began to rage back and forth with the low sunshine casting long shadows. On 17 minutes Lee Duncanson, from the right, floated a ball high towards the penalty spot and although Scot Rough won the aerial battle with Kerr the ball fell for Jared Willet to nudge it back to Kerr only for his shot to be blocked by Rough and then his second attempt blocked by Lewis Reid.

Glens were still up in numbers when possession was lost just inside the Stranraer half and the ball snapped up by Daniel McManus who curled it down the right into space for Edgar to chase down and then weave his way to edge of the box before clipping the ball inside for the unmarked James Dolan to take a touch before curling the ball past Markey and McCracken on the six-yard line and into the net. Stranraer 1 Glens 0, 21 minutes.

Back came Glens through Evan Maley gathering the ball on the half-way line, wide on the left, before switching it to Duncanson wide on the right to thread a forward pass to Erskine who floated a ball upfield for Kerr to get the jump on Rough and flick a header into the path of Michael Mullen’s diagonal run to the right hand side of the ‘D’ and break into the box before clipping it over the outrushing keeper Josh Lane and into the net. However, an offside flag spoiled the moment and Mullen convinced that Reid had played him on. Still Stranraer 1 Glens 0, 23 minutes.

At the other end, Finn Encrepont floated a free kick from wide on the right, 15 yards from the bye-line, to the back post where Quigg  hooked it back across the face of goal where Rough’s looping header, under pressure from Anderson, looked to be dropping over the back of Markey and into the net only for the keeper to stretch upwards and backwards and finger-tip the ball over the bar.

Lee Duncanson from the centre circle floated a free-kick into the left hand-side of the box where Reid’s clearing header was mopped up by Willet to curl a ball to the far side of the box and although McManus won the race to gather the ball his clearance under pressure from David Craig fell for Erskine on the right some 18 yards from the bye-line.  He patiently cut inside, almost inviting two defenders to approach so that he could weave through the gap between them to enter the box, only for one of them to then join another blue shirt providing another gap to align the flight path curling a shot, he had already planned in hi mind, that whizzed over the heads of another two blue shirts as the hypnotised keeper could only look on and watch the ball crash off the bar, after which Mullen gathered the loose ball only to be robbed by Rough.  

Stranraer responded in a lethal fashion initially with a break wide on the left which saw Encrepont whip a ball across the face of goal only to be partially cleared as Gillies snapped up the loose ball to drive through the middle only to be forced back and feed McKnight on the right who then picked out McManus on the outskirts of the ‘D’ and in turn the ball was soon at the feet of Encrepont again to complete the circle. Here, from the left of the ‘D’ he floated a high ball to the edge of the six-yard box where two players from either side had gathered at the back post and unfortunately it was a Lewis Currie header that floated the ball into his own net the far post. Stranraer 2 Glens 0, 33 minutes.

Meanwhile Craig McCracken had pulled up with an injury and was replaced by Ollie Rowe, just back having missed the last six games through injury while Hugh Kerr passed him the captain’s armband.

Play went back and forth for a spell without any decent chances at either end before Glens were hit with another injury on 40 minutes as Lewis Currie was in some distress and made way for Brannan McDermott.

HT Stranraer 2 Glens 0

Glens enjoyed a good spell of possession in the Stranraer half but again without creating any decent chances of note. Indeed, the lively Jordan Stuart nicked the ball at the centre circle and burst down the left before cutting into the box and blasting a diagonal shot that Markey did well to smother at the corner of his six-yard box.

Soon after, Mullen’s free-kick from 25 yards, whizzed wide of wall only to headed out for a corner by Quigg. Mullen floated the kick in the from the right, which was knocked wide by Reid at the back post, ruffling the side netting – and with the low sunshine the travelling support thought it had ruffled the inside of the net. The score of course, remained 2-0 in favour of the home side.

Nevertheless, the Glens had been holding their own, however on 63 minutes Stranraer brought on fresh legs, in stark contrast to the visitors first half substitutions required to replace injured defenders. Aaron Quigg, James Dolan and Kirk McKnight made way for Deryn Lang, Mark Russell and Dominic Plank.

It was Plank that made an immediate impression, gathering the ball just inside the Glens half, on the left touchline, and in a flash, he was motoring into the Glens box and after a step-over he drilled a low diagonal shot that beat Markey covering his near post only for the ball to whizz inches wide of the back post.

Stranraer made another substitution with Lewis Hunter replacing Danny McManus and he too made an immediate impact, scoring a minute later.  The busy Encrepont, from just inside his own half and on the left, clipped the ball down the wing for Plank to chase and whip a low cross towards the near corner of the six-yard box, where Lewis Hunter got the slightest of touches to send the ball past Markey and into the net. Stranraer 3 Glens 0, 76 minutes.

Glenafton made a double substitution with Callum Wilson and Robbie McDougall replacing David Craig and Chris Erskine.

Willet pushed down the left and curled the ball to the near post for the inrushing McDermott to get between two defenders only for keeper Lane to dive at his feet and firmly grip the loose ball.

The home side made their final substitution with captain Lewis Reid making way for Beejay Coll.

Back came Glens and Mullen nicked the ball from Plank on the outskirts of the box before blasting a shot from 22 yards that the diving keeper clutched safely with both hands.

Soon after Mullen gathered a pass from Willet to break forward and slipped the ball wide to McDermott who quickly returned it to Mullen who held off Hunter before trying to threading a ball to Willet only for Gillies to intervene and claims for a hand ball in the box were waved away.

At the other end Stranraer won a corner on the left which Plank played short to Encrepont to curl a high ball to back post for Lang, only for the ball to sail high over the bar.

Back came Glens with a final attempt for a consolation. A neat passing move down the left saw Maley pick out Wilson who then played a slick one-two with Willet to drive to the corner flag and although Rough nicked the ball from him, Willet and Wilson combined to win it back, only for Wilson now deep in the box to lose out to Hunter. The defender casually clipped the ball to Russell who then quickly picked out Plank to drive to the half-way line and launch a ball upfield over the head of Anderson for Ryan Edgar to chase down and although the Glens defender burst a lung to get to the ball first, it cannoned off Edgar’s shins who then forced Markey to rush from his line before casually curling the ball into the far corner of the net. Stranraer 4 Glens 0, 90 minutes.

As the Glens re-spotted the ball on the centre-circle, the referee kindly blew his whistle for time-up.

FT Stranraer 4 Glens 0

Things certainly didn’t go the Glens way with Michael Mullen’s offside decision, Chris Erskine’s wonderful shot crashing off the bar and injuries to Craig McCracken and Lewis Currie.However, credit to Stranraer who stroked the ball about, defended robustly and made great use of their bench with the Glens having to ‘walk the Plank’ at times and good luck to them in the next round.

Let’s remember this was the Glens 7^th cup-tie in 7 weeks, having won the first 6 and now face an 8^th this coming Saturday, to start again!

GLENAFTON ATHLETIC
1. David Markey 2. Blair Anderson 3. Jared Willet 4. Craig McCracken (18. Ollie Rowe) 5. Lewis Currie (17. Brannan McDermott) 6. Evan Maley 7. Lee Duncanson 8. David Craig (16. Callum Wilson) 9. Hugh Kerr (captain) 10. Michael Mullen 11. Chris Erskine (14. Robbie McDougall) Subs Not Used: 21. James Hart (gk) 12. Callum McFadyen 17. Kelvin Daniel

STRANRAER
1. Josh Lane 2. Jordan Stuart 3. Finn Encrepont 4. Lewis Reid (captain) 5. Scot Rough 7. James Dolan 8. Aaron Quigg 10. Kirk McKnight 17. Daniel McManus 21. Matthew Gillies 25. Ryan Edgar Subs Used: 11. Mark Russell 16. Dominic Plank 20. Tommy Sharp 22. Beejay Coll 23. Lewis Hunter 24. Deryn Lang Subs Not Used: 13. Ewan Henderson (gk) 15. Ronan Hughes

Match Photos (apologies camera couldn’t cope with low sunshine)

Stranraer vs. Glenafton Athletic