A SECOND-half double from Kilwinning Rangers was enough to eliminate Sauchie Juniors from the South Challenge Cup.
It was the Clackmannanshire side’s time to play host in a club competition, their opponents travelling from North Ayrshire only to be welcomed by a downpour of rain as kick-off loomed.
Manager Fraser Duncan made four changes from the side’s 3-3 draw with Tynecastle in the capital, Scott Davidson and Tom Harrison replacing absent full-backs Connor Willaghan and Ross Hutchison being the most notable.
The sun came out, but it was the away side that started to shine the brightest, early chances from Mark Lamont and Dylan Duncan that Sauchie’s goalkeeper Sean Robertson would watch both head over the bar.
Sauchie’s opening opportunity would fall to Rhys Caves, a free shot from outside of the box, and Mateusz Miller would deny the midfielder the opener with an excellent dive to his right.
The Buffs continued to pile on the pressure, saves and clearances from Robertson and his back four, cancelling out any form of attacking threat.
A simple message at half-time to which Assistant Manager Darren Cummings alluded to when speaking to Advertiser Sport: “Get right in about them.
“The message was ‘get the finger out’, and to be fair, we never done that in the second half either.
“We were actually embarrassed watching that. The minimum requirement when you go out there is that you work hard and we never done that, we never rolled our sleeves up.”
The visitors started the second half just as they ended the first, with Lamont having a close-range shot hit the bar and Duncan shooting just past the near post from an open goal opportunity.
However, the man between the sticks was called to action with an excellent double save, nullifying Buffs’ captain Bryan Boylan’s opportunity.
Josh Swain came equally close at the other end, a headed effort saw put just over the bar following a cross from Stuart McDowell.
Not long after, the Ayrshire side found the opener, Adam Caldwell beating his man to get a ball across the face of goal, only for Lamont to tap in at close range.
Lamont hit his second, a fantastic strike from the penalty spot shooting under Robertson, who guessed correctly diving to his left.
A half-opportunity for Sauchie fell as striker Ross Kavanagh got a ball into the box but could not find a waiting teammate to convert.
Thankfully for Sauchie, the scoreline remained at two as the referee blew for full-time to end what was a difficult day at the office for the side.
Whilst comparing the two sides’ overall performances, Sauchie’s number two had said: “I thought Kilwinning deserved their performance, they were at it and in our faces.
"They never let us play and bullied us right from the start, but to be fair, we never helped ourselves.
“We were a shadow of ourselves, probably the worst performance I’ve seen from a Sauchie team and that’s disappointing because the boys aren’t as bad as that.”
“It just shows that if you’re not at it, you’ll get punished. We never looked like we were at it, and we looked tired and lethargic right from the get-go."
With three games coming up, Cummings is determined to correct the wrongs: "We’ve a chance to bounce back because we have Penicuik on Wednesday so there’s no time to feel sorry for ourselves.
“We’ll get back in on Monday and work on a few things, try to lift our heads because, as I say, we’re not as bad as the performance was.
“Two big, important league games coming up. We need to get back to winning ways before a big one against Buckie, needing to find a bit of momentum and form for that one.”
Sauchie Juniors: Robertson, Harrison, Davidson (Fisher 74’), Thomson, Collumbine (Churchill 78’), Caves, Kavanagh, D. Smith (Swain 56’), McDowell (Sludden 78’), Williamson, Isaacs (M. Smith 56’)
Substitutes Not Used: Burt, Severin
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