Glentanar 2 Longside 5

GLENTANAR 2 LONGSIDE 5

Longside : Summers, Mackie, Glennie, Stainton, Bain, Webster, Tocher,

Taylor, Batty, West and Fraser.

Subs : Davidson, Panton, Mowat and Cowe.

Referee : Mr S.Nicol.

Longside travelled to play Glentanar on Saturday in the group stage of the Morrison cup. In the opening minute they had a great chance to open the scoring when West was sent clear but he fired his shot wide. Minutes later Taylor got clear on the right and his cross was cleared for a corner which was followed by two more corners but the home defence stood firm.

At the other end Bain made a superb tackle to stop Calum Reid from giving his side the lead. Mackie then crossed the ball into the middle for West but his shot went over the bar. A free kick for Longside was headed on by Batty for Bain arriving at the far post but Robertshaw made a brave save.

The deadlock was brocken in the 24th minute when DARREN BATTY picked up the ball just over the half way line before driving forward and firing a cracking shot past the keeper from the edge of the box. The lead was short lived however as the home side equalised almost straight away when they were awarded a penalty, GREG SMART making no mistake from the spot.

Longside were awarded a free kick just outside the box but West’s effort went over the bar. Glentanar had the ball in the net but the Referee’s assistant had his flag up for an infringement. Harrison sent Calum Reid clear on the right but his low shot was saved by Summers.

(Half time : 1-1)

Minutes into the second half Longside had to make an enforced change when Tocher limped off to be replaced by Mowat. Longside regained the lead in 56 minutes when a Taylor corner was cleared to Mowat and he played the ball back into the middle for MARK STAINTON to score from close range.

Five minutes later they added a third when DARREN BATTY beat the offside trap and he ran through before guiding the ball past Robertshaw. A Fraser corner was met by Stainton before he saw his powerful header crash off the bar before being cleared. Longside were well in command of the game at this stage and Batty was sent clear again but this time Robertshaw made a brilliant save.

The visitors scored number four when a neat touch from Batty sent Fraser clear and he did well on the left before squaring the ball to JAKE WEST and he scored with a clever finish. Panton replaced the injured Bain at this stage.

DARREN BATTY completed the Longside scoring by notching his hat-trick when he won the ball on the half way line and ran clear to score past the keeper. The home side did pull a goal back near the end when a Harrison cross was put into his own net by Mackie.

Summing up : A decent performance from Longside and a cup win which keeps their hopes of qualifying alive.

This Saturday Longside are at home to Stoneywood Parkvale in the group stage of the Morrison cup (ko:2.00pm).