ROSS KAVANAGH insisted Sauchie can be proud of themselves after narrowly missing out on the East of Scotland Qualifying Cup.

Sauchie conceded twice early on but dug deep to find two goals of their own, Kavanagh with the first and Scott Davidson smashing home in the seventh minute of stoppage time.

The match went to extra time and Sauchie conceded a bizarre goal, which looked to slip out of keeper Chic Bell’s hands and cross the goal line.

“Obviously, I’m gutted”, Kavanagh said after the match. “Another poor goal cost us there but we’re really happy with the position we’ve got to this season.

“Everyone’s been brilliant – a few slip ups here and there, but overall, we’ve had a great season and we’re really looking forward to the break.

“It gives us a chance to build for next season, get everyone fresh again but back to the game, we got the early goal we needed right after half time.

“Another screamer from Scotty Davidson but it just wasn’t enough – the boys fought hard, it was a long game but we nearly got there and just fell short at the end.”

Despite trailing by two goals in the first half, Sauchie continued to challenge Stirling and constantly testing the University’s goalkeeper.

Jack Docherty was a particular highlight, causing a lot of trouble down the wing and providing some good balls into the box.

Kavanagh praised the team for digging deep to find two more goals and chase the game throughout.

“That’s definitely one thing we’ve done well this season,” Kavanagh added. “The amount of times we’ve been down goals early this season – a couple of weeks ago we were down 4-1 and we came back to win 5-4.

“Something that we’ve always managed to do is always hold onto the end and give it our all so I’m happy with that.

“We’ve got a good team there and we’re all buzzing to get back and go forward for the new season.”