Saturday 5 March 2016
Penicuik Park
Fife & Lothians Cup 2nd Round
Penicuik Athletic
Starting XI | Bejaoui (c), Fraser, Devlin, Liddle, White (Young 75), Gay, Lough, Barr (Janczyk 67), McCallum (Patterson 67), Somerville, Lister
Unused subs | McDermott, Blaikie
Pumpherston
Starting XI | Farley, Butler, Spooner, Hastings (McGuigan 75), MacLachlan, Slessor, Forret (Purvis 70), Smith, Batt (Rae 70), Douglas, Mangan
Unused subs | Erskine
This thrice postponed Cup tie finally went ahead after an early morning pitch inspection and Penicuik had a loud claim for a penalty in the 4th minute when a McCallum strike appeared to be handled in the box, but referee Lees was unmoved. Five minutes later, a Gay free kick flew high over the bar. In the 14th minute, Devlin crossed the ball in from the left wing, Somerville headed the ball in the air and Lough saw his header just drop over the crossbar. In the 26th minute, Pumpherston broke up the right and Batt sent over a dangerous cross that Somerville’s diving header cleared for a corner. From the corner, Hastings saw his strike brilliantly saved by Bejaoui and from the rebound, MacLachlan’s overhead kick was blocked and the danger cleared. Penicuik should have taken the lead in the 31st minute when Lister crossed the ball into the six yard box where Lough somehow managed to blast the ball over the bar when it seemed easier to score. However that miss was soon forgotten when, in the 40th minute, a Gay cross was headed on to the bar by Somerville and LIDDLE, at the back post, headed the rebound home.
HALFTIME | Penicuik Athletic 1-0 Pumpherston
Penicuik kicked off the second half and had a great chance to double their lead in the 47th minute, but Liddell’s strike was cleared off the line. However, LIDDLE would not be denied a second time when, from a Gay corner kick, he bulleted home a header off the underside of the crossbar. Then in the 52nd minute, a Batt strike from 35 yards beat Bejaoui, but crashed back off the bar and was thumped clear by Devlin. On the hour mark, a Pumpherston free kick was headed over the bar by Hastings. Two minutes later a surging run by Barr set up Somerville, but his shot came back off the base of the upright and was cleared. Five minutes later, a promising move down the left by Pumpherston petered out when a poor cross was comfortably gathered by Bejaoui. In the 72nd minute Lough was denied by keeper Farley when he turned Lough’s powerful strike round the post for a corner. Ten minutes later, Farley pulled off another top drawer save to tip Jancyzk’s ferocious, swerving strike over the bar. In the 86th minute, Penicuik should have added a third, but Farley stuck out a boot to block substitute Patterson’s shot. Right on the 90th minute, Pumpherston came close with a strike from the corner of the penalty box that whistled inches over the bar.
FULLTIME | Penicuik Athletic 2-0 Pumpherston