Dundonald Bluebell 1 Crossgates Primrose 0, South Challenge Cup, second round

CROSSGATES boss Alan Campbell said that he was not too down despite his side losing out at Dundonald Bluebell.

The East of Scotland League, Premier Division rivals went head-to-head in the South Challenge Cup and James Mackie’s goal five minutes into the second half proved decisive in the home side’s favour.

Primrose suffered two injury blows inside the opening eight minutes of the match, losing Stewart McDonald and in-form forward Cammy Muirhead, and Campbell will hope both can prove their fitness ahead of this Saturday’s Alex Jack Cup semi-final with Bo’ness Athletic.

“It was a typical cup tie and derby; tight and fiercely contested,” Campbell commented.

“They probably shaded it because of the clean sheet and the goal they scored from a set play, but it could’ve went either way. I’m disappointed but not too down about it.

“With the players we had missing, it was always going to be an uphill struggle, but they shaded it. Credit to them and good luck to Dundonald in the next round.

“Stewart McDonald looked like he did his hamstring, Cammy Muirhead went over on his ankle, and we were a bit shell-shocked by that and tried to react.

“It was the last thing we needed but we grew into the game. The second half was more even; we had one really good chance and a couple of half chances to get back into it, but we never managed to get the goal.”

On this Saturday’s semi-final, which is at Humbug Park against the First Division, Conference X team, Campbell added: “The players have worked really hard and have come through a couple of tough ties. We’re strong at home. It’ll be a tough game, but if we can reach the performance levels we have this season, we’ll be a hard team to beat.”

Cumbernauld United 1 Inverkeithing Hillfield Swifts 0

AN extra-time strike from Kieran Boubekri was enough to end Inverkeithing Hillfield Swifts’ cup hopes on Saturday.

The West of Scotland Football League, Premier Division side grabbed the only goal in the additional 30 minutes to send Grant Brough’s team home empty-handed, but he felt their performance deserved better.

“I thought we were hard done by,” he said.

“We should be winning the game and we had chances to win. They’re a decent side; they play in a tough league and are a very big, strong side. It was a challenge for us but we stood up to it.

“We flung everything at it and we had three chances late on to equalise. The boys did well and I feel disappointed not to win it.

“We’ll take heart from it because, on another day, we could’ve won. If we play that way most weeks we’ll win games.”

Syngenta 2 Oakley United 0

STEWART KENNY believes that the quality of the opposition’s goalkeeper and two-goal striker was the difference in Oakley United’s defeat to Syngenta.

The Blairwood Park outfit, third in East of Scotland League, First Division, Conference B, were beaten by the unbeaten Conference X leaders thanks to two goals from former Kelty Hearts and Falkirk hitman Andy Rodgers.

Rodgers gave the home side a first half lead and, despite plenty of pressure from Oakley, he added another late on to send Kenny’s team out.

Not only was he full of praise for his team, who lost Bruce McAdam to a late red card, but he earmarked Rodgers and goalkeeper Darren Hill – who can count Falkirk, Forfar Athletic and Arbroath amongst his former clubs – as being key to their reverse.

“It was a very even game and we deserved more from it,” he said. “The boys were excellent. We were exploited by two experienced players; one of them was their goalkeeper, and the other was their striker who had two chances and scored.

“We competed in every aspect and created opportunities against a very good side. On another day, we could’ve scored four, but unfortunately we came up against a rock. If we can play like that, we’ll win plenty of games.”

Cumbernauld Colts 2 Rosyth 0

ROSYTH co-manager Russell Craig praised his team’s efforts in their loss at Lowland League Cumbernauld Colts.

On Friday night, goals either side of the interval from Sean Winter and Shaun Brown saw the hosts through at Broadwood.

But Craig, who felt a Colts player should have been shown red for a challenge on Callum Strang, said: “Even at 1-0 at half-time, we were still in the game.

“We weren’t too downhearted.

"Everyone wrote us off before we went down there but we can hold our heads high.

"They beat Rangers ‘B’ 4-1 a couple of weeks ago, which shows you the type of team we were up against.

“Blair (Penman) didn’t have much to do; he wasn’t bombarded in goals. It was good to play under the lights on a Friday night and was a good experience.”

Today’s fixtures: Alex Jack Cup, semi-final: Crossgates Primrose v Bo’ness Athletic (2.30pm). East of Scotland Qualifying Cup, third round: Inverkeithing Hillfield Swifts v Camelon Juniors (2pm). King Cup, first round: Arniston Rangers v Oakley United (2.30pm).