Four county clubs progress into the Emirate Scottish Cup second round.

Oct 7 2010 by Andrew McGilvray, Hamilton Advertiser

JAMES WHITE came to the fore in the battle of the Vics by grabbing a brace in each half to send Blantyre into the next round of the Scottish Junior Cup in style.

First Division Blantyre are still searching for their first league win of the season and they took that frustration out on Irvine Vics in spectacular fashion.

White netted twice in the first 15 minutes to hand a 2-1 advantage to Blantyre, Bobby Corrigan scoring the visitors’ goal.

Mark Batchelor fired in Blantyre’s third before Paul Mallon gave Ian Rankin’s men a healthy 4-1 half-time lead.

Jason Lafferty and Mallon stretched Blantyre’s lead, with White completing the rout with another double.

Manager Rankin said: “We started well and James White was in explosive form.

“Once in front, we settled down and played some really good football, showing a lot of composure in front of goal, along with sharpness in our finishing.”

Stefan McCluskey scored a hat-trick for LANARK UNITED in their 3-1 win over Inverness City.

McCluskey slotting home two penalty-kicks for United, who also had two goals disallowed for offside.

Inverness also had a goal chalked out due to the linesman’s flag before Steven Sanderson pulled a goal back for the Highlanders.

But Lanark’s dominance paid off when McCluskey netted from an Alan McFadden cross three minutes from time.

LESMAHAGOW also progressed as they made the long haul to Aberdeen worthwhile by scoring a winner three minutes into stoppage time to secure a 3-2 win over Parkvale.

Nicky Sullivan opened the scoring for ‘Gow from the spot after Barry Murdoch was sent tumbling inside the Parkvale box.

Murdoch doubled that lead in 35 minutes when he pounced on a blocked Darren Jaffrey shot to tuck the ball home.

However, the hosts fought back and eventually equalised in the last minute to stun Robert Irving’s men.

But ‘Gow returned the sucker punch in stoppage time when Scott Brennan nipped in to score with a back-post header and prevent a replay.

’Gow boss Irving said: “We weren’t at our best but got the result and, in the Scottish Junior Cup, that is important.”

ROYAL ALBERT were given the hardest task of all of Lanarkshire’s Junior sides with a clash at last season’s finalists Largs Thistle but, despite a 2-0 defeat, came away with credit.

Manager Iain McCluskie said: “We played well and gave a good account of ourselves against a team from three divisions above us.

“We only had 13 players available for the trip – two were on holiday, one was suspended and two were injured. With only two subs, our options were limited.

“We held Largs for 55 minutes, with their second goal coming with virtually the last kick of the ball.”

CARLUKE ROVERS came out the wrong end of a 10-goal cup tie as they conceded six at Ashfield.

Manager Whitey Moffat said: “We were all disappointed. We lost a goal in the first minute and were 3-0 down after 15 minutes – that left us facing an uphill battle.”

Stewart Arnott pulled a goal back, but Ashfield hit a fourth before half-time and added a fifth within a minute of the restart.

Rovers did well to pull it back to 5-4 with a double from Arnott and a single from Stephen Ferguson.

But as Rovers pushed forward Ashfield caught them on the break to add a sixth.

WISHAW lost 4-1 at home to Annbank United, conceding twice in the first quarter before goalkeeper Danny Gallagher was sent off for denying a goal-scoring opportunity.

Centre-back Derek Ralston took over in goal before Annbank stretched their lead to four. John Paul McBride pulled one back from the spot for Alex Young’s side.