Lanark United beat Pollock for second time in eight weeks

Mar 11 2010 by Andrew McGilvray, Hamilton Advertiser

LANARK United beat Glasgow giants Pollok for the second time in eight weeks to progress into the West of Scotland Cup third round.

United twice came from behind before triumphing 5-3 on penalties in Saturday’s second-round clash.

They will be joined in the last 16 by Thorniewood United, who beat East Kilbride 3-1 at Robertson Park.

But Larkhall Thistle’s hopes of a cup run ended when they slumped 2-0 at home to Cumbernauld United.

Lanark had a few narrow escapes as Pollok – with former Bon Accord man Harry Erwin in temporary charge – held the edge for much of the first half at Newlandsfield Park.

Former Lanark and Bellshill striker Bryan Dingwall broke the deadlock a minute into the second half but that lead lasted just eight minutes before Tommy Franch tapped home the equaliser.

Pollok regained the lead in 63 minutes through substitute Ryan McGregor, but Lanark’s pressure paid off six minutes from time as Davie McGuire was upended in the box and Tommy Lennox drove the ball past ex-Bellshill keeper Robert Burns.

Mark Quinn was first up for the penalty shoot-out and slotted home, before Lanark keeper Craig Rowan denied Dingwall with a great save.

Grant Cuthill, John Osborne and Lennox all netted for United and Pollok scored with their next three kicks.

That put Tommy Franch under pressure but he responded in style to send Lanark through to the last 16.

Manager Tam McDonald said: “The players worked hard for each other and deserved their win.

“We huffed and puffed for a spell but to do that at Pollok and win is a great result!

“And it was good to see a referee who had the courage to stand up and be counted when he awarded us a penalty six minutes from time in what could have been a fairly hostile environment.”

He added: “We were missing injured pair Davie Gray and John Goodwin, and David Collins was cup-tied, but we gave new signing Jamie Doyle his debut. He did well but tired late in the game and came off with about 15 minutes to go.”

Thorniewood grabbed their second successive win after a lengthy lay-off when they beat Super First Division side East Kilbride Thistle 3-1.

Left-back Stewart Little capitalised on a training ground long throw-in ploy to open the scoring with a back-post header, but Thistle levelled three minutes before the break.

Winger-turned-centre-half Andy Stewart pounced on a Des Bradshaw defence-splitting pass to fire United into the lead in 60 minutes.

Then, with five minutes to go, substitute Stephen Mullen – on his return from injury – provided the telling pass to carve open the Thistle defence and Ryan Connelly slammed in the clinching third.

Co-manager John Fallon said: “We were delighted with the result and the way we played. We also defended well and it was most encouraging to record a second win on the trot to get the momentum going again.

“Our priority is still the league and this performance will give us a boost for the visit of St Anthony’s.”

The downside to the Thorniewood result was an injury to Mark Daly, who was taken off with a groin injury that could sideline him for the rest of the season.

Larkhall Thistle have struggled to find the promising form they were displaying before their enforced break and crashed 2-0 against Cumbernauld. Manager Paul Anderson said: “We lost to the better side who moved and passed the ball better than we did.”