Star travelled to Broadwood in the knowledge that they had lost every match they had played there without ever scoring a goal. Unfortunately that sorry statistic will carry on until our next visit, but this was by far our best performance at the home of the Colts. We more than matched a team who on their day is one of the best footballing sides in the league, and indeed is the only team to have beaten Kelty Hearts this season.
It is perhaps not the best idea for the fixtures computer to have two sets of cup games on consecutive weeks especially with the William Hill Scottish Cup first round taking place next Saturday. Perhaps that would have been irrelevant anyway and both managers would still have rung the changes in this competition, giving valuable game time to players who hadn’t featured as often as they would have liked. For Star this meant a debut for keeper Ryan Gibson and the young stopper had a solid 90 minutes in a match where he wasn’t as busy as most people would have thought he would have been.
The first half was edged by the home side but both teams played some fine possession football. A sensational run from Liam Park which began deep inside his own half and ended with him laying the ball off to Steven Degnan some 20 yards from the Colts goal, only to see Degs curling effort slip wide. This run was a real eye opener for the home players and anytime Parky collected the ball after that there was a certain worrying look on all their faces. Two minutes after his first shot, Degnan tried an audacious chip from at least 40 yards that drifted narrowly over keeper Alexander Gilchrist’s crossbar. Degs was showing all the confidence of a player fresh from netting a hat-trick in his last match but his evenings work finished early as he was stretchered off right on the half time whistle after collapsing with a knee injury with no other player near him. After extensive treatment he was taken off and had his knee packed in ice for the remainder of the match. His chances of playing in next weeks cup tie against Gala must be slim at best, but he did leave the ground with his limp looking a lot better.
Back to the action and Gibson had his first serious save in the 15th minute when a deep cross found Jordan Pirrie free at the back post but the keeper came out quickly to block with his legs. The only goal of the game came in the 38th minute from a similar move, but this time from the opposite wing. An inswinging cross from the left initially looked to be too long but a moments hesitation from the home defence allowed Gregor Johnston the chance to sneak in at the back post and volleyed home from close range.
Star, wearing their new away strip for the first time, reacted well to this setback and had by far the better of the second half as they looked for an equaliser. However the home defence was in fine form and Star just couldn’t find the killer pass that would unlock them. They had a number of half chances but none of which seriously tested Gilchrist in the home goal. Farrel O’Sullivan was inches wide with a 20 yard drive soon after the break and probably the closest Star came to levelling was in the 65th minute. A fine combination involving Craig Fergusson and Liam Park saw the full back lay the ball off to Lewis Sloan and his shot from outside the box shaved the top of the crossbar. Gibson produced a good save from substitute Martin Wright to keep Star in the tie but in the end it was not to be.
Yet again for Star it was another defeat but with plenty of positives. Manager Ritchie Maxwell said he was fed up with the hard luck stories but for both teams this was the lesser of the two cup ties coming up in the next week or so. However no side is ever happy to lose and there was genuine disappointment at the final whistle. We wish Colts the very best in the next round as our attention turns to next Saturday. We have perhaps been guilty in the past of building up the Scottish Cup ties too much and this maybe has an adverse reaction on the team. However one thing we do know is that if we perform to the levels we have recently and find our touch in front of goal, then we have a serious chance of making progress this season.
CUMBERNAULD COLTS 1 DALBEATTIE STAR 0
Johnston (38)
HT 1-0 Att
CUMBERNAULD COLTS: Gilchrist, Tart, Pascazio, Pirrie, Ashmore, McAnespie (Fergus 71), Kirwan, Team, Dickson (McClung 62), Murray, Johnston (Wright 53)
Subs not used: Davidson, O’Neill, Bonar, Grier
Yellow Cards: Tart
DALBEATTIE STAR: Gibson, Park, O’Sullivan, Cowie, R Thomson, Green, Middlemiss, Fergusson, Tremble (Kerr 74), Sloan, Degnan (Graham 46)
Subs not used: Wilson, Telfer, Brotherston, Thorburn, Parker
Yellow Cards: Fergusson, Cowie
Ref R Birrell
Assistants P O’Neil & S Clark