Somervell Park
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Cambuslang Rangers v Troon F.C.

Troon guided themselves to a victory which saw them into the hat for the Quarter-Finals of the Scottish Junior Cup for only the second time in their history, but it was a victory that they were made to work very hard for it by a Camby side with a point to prove.
Pre-match conversations had been dominated by talk of Cambuslang’s potential demise and indeed, they did well to field a side at all having had no registered players, no coaching staff & no committee as of Tuesday night. But, a game we had & in difficult conditions underfoot both teams set to a typical January Cup match in front of a strong crowd. The Seasiders had the better of the opening possession and Ryan Stevenson was dictating the tempo but the dogged home side stuck to their task well & kept the visitors at bay. Indeed, it was the home side who created the first clear cut chance as full-back Ryan Mackey drove into the opposition half and fed the impressive Greg McEwan, who cut inside Lewis Clark & forced Scott Johnstone into a smart save at his front post & when Steven McCreadie mis-hit his clearance, ScoJo produced a spectacular second save and spared his team-mates blushes to palm the ball to safety.
As the half wore on, Troon were finding themselves further up the pitch & their quality eventually made the difference. A good touch from Stevenson saw Tony Murphy whip a cross into the box and Christian Nade rose high above Staunton & Bishop to power a header into the net with Treacy stranded. A competitive first half that Troon perhaps felt fortunate to have shaded.
HALF-TIME: CAMBUSLANG RANGERS 0-1 TROON F.C.
The second half started in much the same fashion as the first ended, Troon took the match to their hosts & Dylan Pooler was unlucky to see an early effort trickle wide. Cambuslang began to take a grip of the midfield proceedings with the gritty McLeish & classy looking McEwan leading the way, and Troon gaffer Jimmy Kirkwood introduced pacy widemen Jamie Martin & Dean Fulton in an effort to drive Troon further up the pitch. The move almost bore fruit instantly, as Jack Sherrie fed Martin who went on a mazy run down the left beating four men, but his shot fell straight into the arms of a grateful Treacy. A late free-kick saw the last flurry of action, with Clark felling the livewire Djoudi about 30 yards from goal. With all 11 Cambuslang men pressing the box, visiting Troon fans breathed a huge sigh of relief as ScoJo claimed the high ball & the final whistle blew.
 
Cambuslang Co-boss Jimmy Kerr was contrite in defeat, but keen to focus on the bigger picture – the survival of the club.
Kerr said, “We had only three boys who were still here from the old squad and the rest were all amateurs we had to sign to play. They play for local amateur teams and some of the guys haven’t played for a year or two, like Bish or Stan for example. We didn’t have any training sessions before the game, so a lot of these boys met today for the first time. So to put on a show like that on against a team like Troon; we were a bit unlucky.”

Visiting boss Jimmy Kirkwood said, “I take my hat off to the Cambuslang guys, what they’ve gone through this week has been extremely difficult & to put on a performance like they did all credit to them. But we are delighted to be making history at the club yet again, and are proud to be in the hat for the last 8 in the biggest competition we play in. Proud as punch.”

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