East Lothian Courier | Sport | Preston involved in another cup shock, but this time they're out

Thursday, 24th July, 2008

Published: Thursday, 4th October, 2007 09:00

Preston involved in another cup shock, but this time they're out

AMATEUR side Golspie Sutherland sent Preston Athletic crashing out of the Scottish Cup at the first hurdle on Saturday – and shell-shocked Pennypit manager Stevie Myatt believes his troops got exactly what they deserved.

Preston caused an upset last year when they beat Third Division side Stenhousemuir 2-0 in the first round, but this time they were on the wrong end of a shock result.

Golspie led the tie 3-0 thanks to a penalty from John MacKay three minutes before half-time, a header from Donald Sutherland from a corner two minutes after the break and a similar header from Colin MacLean on the hour mark.

Myatt made no excuses for the 3-1 away defeat on Saturday, but was unhappy with the penalty award that handed Golspie their opener.

“We got slaughtered,” said Myatt. “We were well beaten. There’s not a single excuse I can give for a very poor performance and I can’t deny that they deserved their win on the day.

“We had one attempt at goal in the first half and one in the second and that was it!

“I wasn’t happy with how we kept possession against a team that is supposedly below us which was very disappointing to me.

“I thought the penalty was particularly harsh and their players and bench didn’t even appeal for it. It was a case of two guys going up for a header and the next minute the referee points to the spot.

“I asked the ref about it at half-time and he said Greg McColl had fouled the striker. Greg said he never even touched him.

“That’s two years in a row we’ve been the shock troops of the tournament. I’ve been on the other side of it now and it’s not a good feeling. Now I know how Campbell Money felt last year.”

A frantic start to the match had referee Graham Fraser busy as tough tackles from both sides slowed down play in the opening exchanges.

An early chance fell to Sutherland and the Golspie hitman brought out a good save from Ross Gilpin in the Preston goal before the home keeper was forced to punch a great cross from Ian Houston.

There were few chances in an uneventful first half until McColl was adjudged to have fouled Andrew Keveren as they challenged for a header in the box and the referee pointed to the spot where MacKay had no hesitation in burying the award.

The final chance of the first half fell to Preston as Brian Wilson’s 30-yard effort flew just wide.

Golspie increased their lead two minutes after the break when a corner was swung and Sutherland was left on his own to simply nod home.

The home side won another corner on the right in 59 minutes and with the Preston defence again posted missing, MacLean headed home to put the amateur outfit into the second round where they will meet Whitehill Welfare. Substitute Craig Scott got the Panners’ goal late on.

Social Bookmarking What are these?