TUCKER LIKED THE HAPPY ENDING

The similarities between Auchinleck Talbot’s performance on Saturday and their overall season to date can best be described as striking.

There was nothing new to the situation Tommy ` Tucker` Sloan’s side found themselves in starting away with bags of purpose and energy despite the handicap of having one or two key players posted missing?

And neither was there anything different about the perceived lack of a genuine goal threat posed by his Bot playing charges that didn’t so much enable as help opponents Troon to comfortably settle into their stride and more than hold their own in this Indigo Comms West of Scotland Cup clash.

But as the game wore on, Talbot were to improve no end as Jamie Glasgow & Co found their shooting boots (aided and abetted it has to be said by a freak Neil Slooves goal) and their   4-1 winning margin could and probably would have been even more convincing but for whistler Barry Cook being compelled to call time on this all-Ayrshire affair.

And no doubt winning gaffer Sloan won’t thank me for saying so however there was something Brendan Rodgersesque when it came to him giving his after-match summations.

“We weren’t at it in the early stages and had absolutely no momentum or fluency to our game until the first half was coming to a close “insisted the seasoned team boss .

“I wasn’t happy and made my feelings obvious to one and all during the half time break but never in a month of Sundays did I expect us to come back out and score straightaway.

“That goal getting us back on level terms followed by the lucky break from big Neil’s clearance upfield landing in the net did wonders for our confidence and both Jamie and Ali Boyle then score two really good team goals against a more than decent Troon side that continued to ask questions of our goalkeeper Aidan Glavin which thankfully he was able to answer.”

Tucker succinctly added, “It’s pleasing to respond and come good in the manner we did but I’d much prefer if it didn’t take us as long to get up to speed in our next game?”

Rather surprisingly, Talbot’s normally high intensity levels (playing in  front of the demanding home  support) were nowhere to be seen in the opening exchanges which were devoid of any goalmouth thrills and spills until 23 minutes in when a goal line clearance was needed to keep out a netbound header from home team stopper Slooves at a corner kick.

Troon ,hard-working and tidy in possession had offered  no goal threat of their own until the half hour mark when they came ever so close to getting their noses in front after a cross from wide right carried across the Talbot penalty box to Kyle Gilroy whose instantaneous looping shot looked destined for Glavin’s postage stamp only for the one time Kilmarnock signing to stretch  a hand upwards and tip the ball onto his crossbar.

Their near thing spurred Troon forward and minutes later another right wing cross was sublimely controlled and steered past Glavin by their striker and former Talbot fans favourite Mark Shankland..

Having their grip on the West Cup silverware slackened by this shock 1-0   scoreline in the visitors` favour resulted in trophy holders Talbot piling forward in search of an equalizer and a 22 yard Connor Boyd shot was touched around his post by Troon keeper Dale Burgess who then made an even better save to parry out Neil McPherson’s powerful six yard header from the resulting corner kick and was grateful for Nikky Docherty’s crucial block to keep out Ali Boyle’s follow up 18 yard shot .

In stark contrast to their earlier insipid beginnings Auchinleck made the best possible start to the second half by getting themselves back on level terms thanks to Boyd rifling home a low shot after the towering Slooves had headed down a Michael Wardrope free kick.

Their state of parity might have been promptly forfeited but for Glavin saving at close quarters from  Ben Black after the Troon front man had been picked put by a driven Shankland cross from the left flank and Talbot made the most of this escape by freakishly going 2-1  ahead in 55 minutes .

No danger was apparent when Slooves moved onto an attempted through ball from well inside his own half , boomed a first-time clearance downfield but Burgess calamitously misjudged both  the flight and bounce to be left stranded yards of his line  and looking backwards in abject horror as the ball soared high over him and into his unguarded net.

Talbot smelt blood and 2-1 quickly became 3-1 as a sweeping move led to Boyd crossing for Glasgow to whip a shot beyond Burgess who was similarly reduced to looking on helplessly ten minutes from time as another incisive Talbot attacking sortie saw a cross from out left coincide with Boyle arriving in the penalty box to volley home and round off the scoring.

TROON STRIKER MARK SHANKLAND DID HIS OLD TEAM NO FAVOURS

Of the remaining handful of  Premier Division sides to keep their Cup hopes alive ,Beith top-scored with a 7-3 rout of Glasgow United for whom David Goodwillie added a late brace of goals to put a better complexion on the scoreline .

Earlier, Dylan McLaughlin firing  the lower league outfit ahead had all too briefly raised hopes of a Cup upset before Alan Docherty and Andy Monk braces along with Connor McGlinchey(pen), own goal and Aaron Mason counters had ticked the boxes for the expected order of things.

Rob Roy beat Vale of Clyde 1-0 and Pollok are through thanks to a Jordan Longmuir penalty kick save earning a 5-4 spot kicks victory over Clydebank following a regulation time 0-0 stalemate while Michael Moffat (2) and Liam Caddis were the Glenafton marksmen in a 3-1 defeat of Largs Thistle whose consolation score was netted by Daryll Duffy.

And Darvel supporters breathed a huge sigh of relief at Recreation Park in the wake of requiring a tougher than anticipated time of it in order to advance at the expense of  regarded minnows Greenock.

The Ayrshire big guns initially fell behind to a Declan Black goal but bounced back with scores from Chris Moore, and Leon Murphy to lead 2-1 but Craig Brown netting for the visitors had the prospect of penalty kicks looking a possibility until Graham Wilson clinched a hard fought victory.

Meanwhile, Ben Richford, Adam Hunter(2) and Keiran Campbell were on target as Shotts Bon Accord ran out 4-0 winners over Eglinton, while  a John Cunningham brace along with a Cammy Marshall goal saw Cumbernauld United come out on top 3-1 over  Glasgow Perthshire for whom Jack Crumlish was on the scoresheet.

And through in Lanarkshire ,there was no shortage of goals or thrills and spills for that matter as Lanark United and Larkhall Thistle both managed to prevail by 4-3 scorelines against Bellshill Athletic and Blantyre Vics respectively.

Elsewhere, a second half Anton Brady goal saw St Cadocs  through in their Scottish Junior Cup tester up at Stonehaven while the only top flight league contest to be played had Cumnock crucially eke out a 3-2 triumph against Arthurlie thanks to a late in the day winning goal from Findlay Frye.

FRYE EARNS THE POINTS FOR CUMNOCK

The Ayrshire hosts had been 2-0 to the good from a couple of Robbie Young scores but  the Barrhead men manfully recovered to  get back on level terms through Dylan Fletcher and Lee Roulston only for Frye to land a sickening blow to their hopes of climbing clear of the relegation fringes.

In the First Division stakes , Kilwinning Rangers striker Graham Boyd bagged a hat trick as the Buffs moved fourth top with a 4-2 success away to Maybole while the same scoreline sufficed as Renfrew striking pair Andrew Skinner and JoJo Gillespie both netted twice against Rutherglen Glencairn.

WEEKEND RESULTS:

CLYDEBUILT HOME IMPROVEMENTSScottish Junior Cup.Fourth Round.  Stonehaven 0 St Cadocs1.INDIGO COMMS West of Scotland Cup.Third Round.Beith 7 Glasgow Utd 3, Glenafton 3 Largs Thistle 1, Clydebank 0 Pollok 0(Pollok win 5-4 pens), Shotts Bon Accord 4 Eglinton 0, Rob Roy 1 Vale of Clyde 0.Auchinleck Talbot 4 Troon 1, Larkhall Thistle 4 Blantyre Vics 3, Glasgow Perthshire 1 Cumbernauld Utd 3, Darvel 3 Greenock 2, Bellshill Athletic 3 Lanark Utd 4. P.D.M HUWS GRAY Premier Division. Cumnock 3 Arthurlie 2. P.D.M HUWS GRAYFirst Division. Renfrew 4 Rutherglen Glencairn 2, Maybole 2 Kilwinning Rangers 4. PDM HUWS GRAY Second Division. Bonnyton Thistle 0 Muirkirk 2, Maryhill 3 Wishaw 1, St Anthonys 2 Glasgow University1, Kilsyth  Rangers 0 Caledonian Locomotives 2. PDM HUWS GRAYThird Division. Finnart 2 Vale of Leven 3, Port Glasgow 3 Ardeer Thistle 0, .PDM HUWS GRAYFourth Division.  Easterhouse 2 East Kilbride Thistle 4. Strathclyde Demolition Cup.Semi Finals. West Park Utd 0 Neilston 1, Drumchapel Utd 3 Kilsyth Athletic 1.

Regards

Jim O’Donnell

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