It was heartbreak for Barrhead Youth Football Club under-21s at the Excelsior Stadium in Airdrie on Sunday as they lost 2-1 to Rutherglen Glencairn in the Scottish Cup final.

The Barrhead side will feel it’s a game they could and should have won, but they were made to pay for a lacklustre four-minute spell in the first half.

The game was end-to-end in the opening exchanges and just before the 20-minute mark Barrhead almost grabbed the opener. Glens’ Grier squared the ball to his keeper Truesdale, Easdon chased across and when the keeper let the ball slip under his foot, the Barrhead forward almost nipped in but the Glens defence managed to clear.

But after 27 minutes Glencairn took the lead. A free-kick from his own half from Grier found Phinn who controlled with his first touch before unleashing a wonderful effort past the helpless McMaster.

Four minutes later it was two, Dallas played a ball through that was missed by the Barrhead defence and that man Phinn was on hand to net his and Glencairn’s second.

Barrhead were all at sea, but they regrouped quickly and with 10 minutes of the half remaining they pulled a goal back. A free-kick on the left was sent into the danger area by Connor Bradley but the ball wasn’t properly cleared and it broke to the edge of the box where Cammy O’Neil rifled home.

It should have been all square three minutes later. Easdon chased what seemed a lost cause before getting the better of Davidson on the right and sending over a great ball that Peter Haggerty headed inches past from close range.

Early in the second half Glens’ Davidson looked to put Ndlovu through, but when McMaster raced to smother the ball the Glens man looked to follow through on the Barrhead goalkeeper but the referee waved away the protests.

Barrhead threw everything at Glencairn as the second half wore on but couldn’t find the equaliser and Glencairn celebrated as the final whistle blew.

Barrhead: McMaster, Bradley, Etherson, McFarlane, Haggarty, C O’Neill, Middleton, Burns, McGrory, Stevenson, and Easdon.

Subs: Kennedy, O’Donohue, McLaughlin, Lamont, and Hughes.