Neilston co-manager Chris Cameron was left scratching his head at the weekend after his side played out a ‘strange’ eight-goal Scottish Junior Cup thriller against League Two outfit Forth Wanderers at Brig O’ Lea.

The visitors surprised everyone when they opened the scoring inside the opening minute with a stunning free-kick before Neilston went on to dominate the remainder of the first 45.

But the Farmer’s Boys struggled to break down a resolute Forth defence until, 10 minutes into the second-half, Dylan Fletcher was fouled in the area and went on to slot home the leveller.

Forth’s threat from set-pieces and long throw-ins was causing havoc and they restored their lead quickly thanks to a Paul Doyle own goal.

Things went from bad to worse for Cameron’s men just after the hour mark when a howler from goalkeeper Kyle Pirie handed the League Two side a 3-1 lead.

Fletcher quickly pulled one back from the spot to hand Neilston a lifeline before Robbie Halliday bundled it home minutes later for the leveller.

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It looked like Neilston had booked their spot in the third round draw when Fletcher completed his hat-trick late on but it wasn’t to be with Forth going straight up the other end to equalise and force a second round replay this weekend.

Cameron said: “That was just a strange game. We scored four and conceded four but we could have gone on to score 10 to be honest. 

“We had chance after chance and squandered them all. 

“The four goals we lost up the other end were all from set pieces with long throw-ins and corners causing havoc. We didn’t deal with their tactics at all.

“We actually played well generally but just couldn’t deal with their height. 

“As I said, it was just a strange day. We lost a goal in the first minute, a goal in the last minute and two own goals in between.

“I’ve never been to their pitch down at Kingshill Park but I’ve been told by a few boys that it’s not really in the best condition. That makes the replay even more frustrating, we should have been able to get the job done at the Brig.

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“It’s a bit of a long journey down there and is also another distraction from the league which isn’t great.

“Ideally, we’d rather be back in league action this weekend but we just need to go down there now and make sure we do the business this time.”

With the second round replay at Kingshill Park kicking-off at 2.30pm this Saturday, Neilston supporter’s bus will leave the Brig on Saturday morning at 11.30am.

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