Irvine Meadow into next round of Scottish Cup

Dec 19 2008 by John Woods, Irvine Herald

IRVINE Meadow are safely through to the last 32 but Chris Strain's side made heavy work of beating a useful Cambuslang Rangers outfit who played for most of the match with only ten men.

This was the first time the pair had met in the Scottish since that epic cup final saga of 1973 but the match was just as keenly contested and Cambuslang were first to threaten with a long-range Mark Templeton effort which flew over then Meadow replied with a Brian McGinty free kick which was blocked and then scrambled clear before a visiting forward could pounce.

Andy McLaren was unlucky when he nipped onto a short passback in ten minutes and stabbed the ball past keeper John Connolly but, with the travelling support ready to acclaim a goal, the ball slid harmlessly past.

But the home side were dealt a blow in 18 minutes when John Renwick was sent off for elbowing Gareth Turner then, moments later Ross Donaldson had a great opportunity to score after Stephen Swift slipped on the greasy surface but, with the goal at his mercy he elected to pass to Kevin Ogilvie who stuck the ball in the net but he was clearly offside and the goal was rightly chalked off.

Meadow were playing some pretty football at this stage even if their final ball was often poor but Turner came close in 22 minutes with a shot from the edge of the box which was tipped over by the alert Connolly then a Chris Strain header landed on the roof of the net with the keeper scrambling to reach the ball.

Cambuslang were clearly up for the fight but, although they came close with a free kick and earned several corners they never really troubled Meadow keeper Michael Wardrope, and instead it was his opposite number Connolly who was called into action again in 44 minutes when he did well to hold an inswinging Turner corner.

Strain dispossessed an opponent just after the break and sent over a cross which had Connolly struggling to clear, Paul Hyslop headed wide when it looked easier to score then a Davie Hamilton effort was cleared off the line by Graham Doak as Meadow, who now had Gavin Friels and Emilio Jaconelli on for McGinty and McLaren, began to show more urgency.

As the pressure mounted a 25-yard Zander Ryan rocket was tipped over by Connolly before the visitors finally made the breakthrough eight minutes from time, long-term injury victim Friels celebrating his return to action by gathering a Hyslop long ball and drilling his shot past the keeper.

Cambuslang threw everything at their opponents in a bid to salvage the tie and, with Wardrope grounded after saving a close-range header, Scott Marshall fired the loose ball goalwards only to see Chris McGowan clear it off the line.

To rub salt onto Cambuslang's wounds they ended up with only nine men after Craig Ferguson picked up a second yellow card.