SPFL Trust Trophy: Three things we learned as League One teams progress
Six out of nine clubs from the third tier progressed to the last 16 of the Scottish Challenge Cup, let’s look at the three talking points…
Queen’s hit four past FC Edinburgh as Citizens crash out at the second hurdle
FC Edinburgh conceded four goals against the Doonhammers for the second time in five days as they fell to defeat at Palmerston.
A penalty from Conor Murray in the 23rd minute gave the hosts a slender lead going into the break. David McKay doubled their advantage shortly after the re-start with Michael Ruth adding a third in the 71st minute. Lee Connelly put the icing on the cake for the Dumfries side with six minutes left on the clock.
The victory makes it back-to-back wins in all competitions for Queen’s for the first time this season, while the opposite can be said for the capital side.
Next week, both teams are back in league business as Edinburgh make the trip up north to face Montrose while it’s a third consecutive home fixture for QOS as they welcome Alloa Athletic.
Queen of the South player-manager, Willie Gibson: “It was exactly how I wanted it to go, the boys started well, we were on top and we kept the ball. We showed our clinical side which has been lacking a few times. We kept a clean sheet and we know that if we keep getting clean sheets, we will win games of football.”
FC Edinburgh manager, Alan Maybury: “In the first-half, I felt we had the better shape and as the game wore on, we grew into it. After a debatable penalty, we went on the back foot a little bit. In the second-half, we never really got going and didn’t create chances in the areas we needed to. We need to be better.”
Falkirk in minor cup shock as they progress at the expense of Thistle
A goal in each half proved to be enough as the Bairns pulled off a minor upset over Championship side Partick Thistle at The Falkirk Stadium.
Rumarn Burrell opened the scoring for the hosts after nine minutes on the clock as the League One club went into the break with a narrow advantage. It wasn’t until the 65thminute that the home side gave the visitors a mountain to climb as Gary Oliver completed the scoring.
The win for John McGlynn’s men means they return to winning ways after a three game winless run, which includes a 3-0 defeat to Dundee in the League Cup. The Bairns return to league business next Saturday as they welcome familiar rivals Clyde.
Their victory also ends a five-game unbeaten run for the Maryhill club who currently lead the second tier.
Falkirk manager, John McGlynn: “I thoroughly enjoyed watching that from the dugout. We put together a complete performance together for 90 minutes which is what we have been striving to do. Fair enough, Partick Thistle made some chances, but we still beat the team sitting top of the Championship and we did that fairly comfortably.”
Partick Thistle manager, Ian McCall: “I thought Falkirk thoroughly deserved to win and it could’ve been more. I would hold my hands up, there are a lot of good players in our team, but we were very disjointed. You are never happy to lose a game of football, but I think it showed where my priorities lie in the team I picked tonight.”
Blue Toon tumble out of the competition as Elgin run riot in major upset
Jim McInally labelled his side’s performance as “unacceptable” as Peterhead were delivered a thumping by bottom-tier Elgin City at Balmoor.
Russell Dingwall was first to get his name on the scoresheet for the Black and Whites after nine minutes, before Kane Hester doubled their lead in the 35th minute. The goals kept on coming as Dylan Lawrence tripled their advantage in the 68th minute and Angus Miller added a fourth with five minutes remaining.
The defeat means the Blue Toon lose momentum from their first league win over Kelty Hearts last weekend as they prepare to return to the league calendar with a trip to table-topping Dunfermline next Saturday- knowing a win could see them climb off the foot of the table.
Peterhead manager, Jim McInally: “The second-half started, Elgin had a nice shape to them, they were two up and we weren’t good enough to play through them. Some of them [players] have looked as if they’ve maybe accepted they are going to lose their place and that’s the disappointing thing.”
Elgin City manager, Gavin Price: “Delighted. It’s a clean sheet and we had numerous opportunities in the game. Hopefully we can translate this into our league form, which to be fair, over the past four/five weeks, we have been playing well, just maybe not getting the results.”
Elsewhere, late goals for both Alloa Athletic and Clyde saw them progress in narrow wins over Airdrieonians and Caernarfon Town respectively. Montrose avoided a cup upset as they prevailed in a six-goal thriller over Kilmarnock B at Links Park. A last-gasp winner prevented a penalty shoot-out at Galabank as Kelty Hearts got the better of Annan Athletic.
Scottish Challenge Cup- Third Round Results:
Thursday 22 September-
Queen of the South 4-0 FC Edinburgh
Friday 23 September-
Alloa Athletic 1-0 Airdrieonians
Annan Athletic 1-2 Kelty Hearts
Falkirk 2-0 Partick Thistle
Saturday 24 September-
Clyde 1-0 Caernarfon Town
Montrose 4-2 Kilmarnock B
Peterhead 0-4 Elgin City