West of Scotland Cup: Round 1

  Largs Thistle 1 (4 pen - 2 pen ) 1 Dunipace  

This re-arranged West of Scotland cup tie saw Dunipace travel up the coast to Superleague form team Largs Thistle, who have won 5 of their opening 6 Premier Division ties.

On paper this was a tough test for the Westfield men but, but their recent performances against higher league opposition, coupled with their own recent run of results must have given them confidence for the fixture.

From the off though Largs controlled the majority of possession, as might be expected given the 2 league difference between the teams, but struggled to create anything of note coming up against a stubborn Dunipace rearguard that had had Kevin Mullen in heart of defence for the absent Graeme MacMillan.

With a header wide from a long throw the only real chance the hosts created in a dominant opening spell, Dunipace began to feel their way in, putting together a couple of quick breaks that led to nothing before a well worked free kick between Mullen, Oates and McCafferty saw Keiron McIllduff head the visitors first effort of the day into the keepers arms.

Largs, taking a warning from this, created their best chance of the half soon after when Monaghan played the ball into the path of his strike partner inside the box. His shot looked bound for the net before Meighan expertly turned it over the bar, setting the tone for what would be another performance from the stopper that would underline his ability at this level.

Largs had another chance moments later when another long throw broke loose inside the area, dropping in front of the striker 12 yards out. He instantly stepped forward to fire his shot towards goal but only found the body of Gary MacMillan who had thrown himself in front of the shot, the ball going out for another throw just short of the halfway line.

And Dunipace were then to have the best chance of the half, when Wright played an excellent through ball into the path of Tweedie , in behind the home defence. Tweedie took a couple of touches but couldn't get the ball out of his feet to get his shot away, which allowed the defender to come across and block.

0-0 at half time, and with Dunipace more than holding their own against their hosts they would have been full of confidence coming out for the second half in the West coast sunshine.

Indeed, they nearly took the lead 5 minutes into the half when Gary MacMillan broke up the play in the centre and found Tweedie on the left of the half way line. The centre half continued his run to be found be a perfect return from the striker, but his cross from the left evaded the onrushing McIllduff by about a foot in the 6 yard box for what would have been an easy header.

Dunipace though were putting more attacks together and, following a couple of half chances, were to take the lead. Ryan McCafferty swung in an excellent free Kick from the left and McIllduff rose above the defence to guide his header expertly beyond the keeper and into the net.

Following the goal, as you might expect, Largs controlled the majority of the ball. Again though, most of their efforts on goal came from distance with Meighan able to cover everything. And when he couldn't get there, following an excellent drive from 18 yards, his post came to the rescue with Orr clearing the scraps.

With the clock ticking slowly, Meighan was called upon again to make another top save as a home midfielder tried to curl the ball into the top corner and when a scramble materialised in the box Mullen, who had deputised superbly in an unfamiliar central defence role, cleared to safety.

Having not offered much in an attacking sense since their goal, Dunipace nearly nicked a second with pretty much their only assault on the home goal in the latter stages. Oates and Tweedie breaking forward, but the pullback from the striker fell agonisingly behind the wing back who just couldn't halt his run enough to get a shot away.

And, as has been the way with Dunipace this season, they were to fall foul of an awful bit of luck as Largs equalised in the 92nd minute.

Following the number of superbly struck shots the home side had fired at Meighan during the course of the afternoon it was cruel that the one that trundled into the net through at least 15 bodies was the worst hit of the day. Meighan with no chance with so many players in front of him.

So, to penalties it went, with McCafferty and youngster Mikey Kane finding the net in between misses from Oates and Mullen, the home side scoring all 4 of theirs.

Dunipace will be happy with the nature of their performance, despite the fact they didn't manage to play much in the way of their usual brand of football. but with nothing but positives to take away from the tie despite having it grabbed from them in Injury time they headed back to Westfield wishing their opponents well for the rest of their season.

Largs will feel they had enough of the ball and created enough to warrant their equaliser, showing in spells why they have enjoyed such a good start to their league campaign.