Elgin exit cup despite late rally
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
ELGIN City are out of the Scottish Cup but only after running Championship side Raith Rovers close at Borough Briggs.
The Kirkcaldy side progressed into round 4 with a 2-1 victory, but needed some good saves by keeper Kevin Cuthbert to keep them ahead in the tie.
City boss Jim Weir felt his team was worth a draw and a second crack at Starks Park next week.
“I really feel for the players,” he said. “I don’t think there’s any doubt we deserved a replay.
“When you are one-on-one with only the keeper to beat on two occasions, you’ve got to take those chances.
“We made their goalkeeper work on a number of occasions and I felt we created some good chances.
“We can’t be too disappointed. The important thing is we’ve got a lot of positives to take into these two difficult away matches coming up in the league.”
Elgin survived a scare when Mark Stewart hit the post on the half hour mark and Scott Robertson hooked the rebound high over.
But a Brian Cameron foul on James Craigen after 38 minutes gave Raith a penalty kick which Ryan McCord fired past City’s stand-in keeper Stewart Black.
After the break, both Craig Gunn and Brian Cameron were clean through on goal only for Cuthbert to make a save. Connor McLaren and Dylan Easton also went close during a spell of home pressure early in the second half.
However, Rovers made them pay on 54 minutes with a Grant Anderson strike from a corner forced by a brilliant Black save from Stewart.
All seemed lost for City at 2-0 by sub Jordan Halsman threw them a last minute lifeline when he fired home, just two minutes after coming on from the bench.
Twitter:
The game then entered stoppage time and Archie Macphee’s last gasp ball into the box picked out Cameron in front of goal, but his effort was too weak to beat Cuthbert.
Raith boss Ray McKinnon admitted: “I give a lot of credit to Elgin. They kept on going until the end.
“They made us sweat. They are a very good young side with some good players and it was always going to be a tough game.”
Twitter:
Buckie Thistle also exited the competition despite a brave effort away to League 1 side Stranraer.
Jags long trip south proved to be a fruitless one, as they were defeated 3-1.
An early Stranraer goal and a second just after the break left Buckie with too much to do, although Paul Napier’s free kick pulled one back.
The home side grabbed a third to kill the tie and Jags later had Chris Angus sent off.
Inverurie Locos forced a replay at home to League 2 leaders Annan with a last minute leveller in a 4-4 draw, having led 3-1 at one stage.
Fraserburgh also drew level at Championship Falkirk before going down 4-1, while Huntly were held 1-1 at home to Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale.
In an all-Highland League clashes, Formartine and Cove Rangers drew 1-1 while Wick’s clash at home to Linlithgow Rose was called off less than an hour before kick off.
In the Highland League, Keith’s visit to Fort, Lossiemouth’s trip to Clach and Forres’ home game against Turriff were all called off.
In the only league game which did go ahead, Nairn beat Deveronvale 3-2.
Links:
