MEADOW END LIE'S CUP HOPES
Published 26 May 2010 13:57
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Irvine Meadow 3 Arthurlie 3
ARTHURLIE'S dreams of West of Scotland Cup glory are over after Irvine Meadow fought back from two goals down to win a dreaded penalty shoot-out.
Meadow started brightly, and it was the home side that opened the scoring after only four minutes.
Neat wing play, and a great cross from Brian McGinty, was met by David Hamilton.
Arthurlie's young keeper, Kieran Cannon pulled of a decent stop from the first attempt, but Hamilton regained his composure and made no mistake with the rebound.
Arthurlie's response was prompt, and only three minutes later the scores were level.
John Johnston showed great ability before being pulled down on the edge of the box.
The free-kick duty was left to Tam Murdoch, and the midfielder's deflected effort was enough to see Arthurlie back into the tie.
The Barrhead side were on the ascendancy now and after 17 minutes they took the lead.
Johnston's strike off the crossbar from 12 yards was expertly followed up by Craig Malcolm, and the pendulum had swung Arthurlie's way.
It was a real cup tie now, and Meadow forced their way back into the match, with some tidy possession, and a few speculative efforts.
As the first half coasted along, Cannon had to look smart in the Lie goal, as he plucked a Zander Ryan free-kick from the air, and Arthurlie held the advantage at the interval.
Joe Andrew blasted home from the edge of the box after 56 minutes to allow the Barrhead faithful to start dreaming of the final.
But Irvine Meadow had no option but to go all out in search of a crucial goal.
As the home side began to boss possession again, the Lie retreated deeper and deeper and it seemed certain that the hosts would find a way back into the tie.
After 65 minutes, it was game-on, as Meadow reduced the deficit to one thanks to a Steven Swift header.
The high pace of the game suited Meadow now and the home side were asking all the questions at this stage.
On 70 minutes, it was Cannon to Arthurlie's rescue, as he back-tracked to tip a Richie Barr header over, for a corner.
Arthurlie had withstood an enormous onslaught by the home side, but the Lie defence were undone when John Dillon capitalised on Lie's failure to clear their lines on 74 minutes.
Hamilton looked to have grabbed the equaliser, when his header came back off the crossbar, but Arthurlie could not scramble the ball clear, and Dillon was on hand to nod home the game's sixth goal.
And despite chances for both sides in the closing minutes it was left to a penalty shoot-out to decide the outcome of the match.
Irvine Meadow converted all five penalties through Crilly, Hamilton, Dillon, Ryan and Boyle.
For Arthurlie Bradford, Adam and McKeown all converted, but Michael Wardrope's save from Arthurlie's first penalty, from Tam Murdoch, was enough to send the Ayrshire side through to the West of Scotland cup final. Arthurlie now await the winners of the Central League Cup, when they will be on their travels in a preliminary round tie in the Evening Times Cup Winners Cup.
Arthurlie: Cannon, Ardellany, McKeown, Lundie, Williams, Winter, Johnston, Murdoch, McLay, Andrew, Malcolm. Subs: Bradford, Adam, Duncan, Anderson, Bonar, Parry.
This article appeared in Barrhead News 26 May 10
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