Giantkilling Cairn pull off cup shock

They beat northern champs to reach last 16

In a week when the new US president relinquished his sporting authority in Aberdeen, Gartcairn Juniors stamped theirs as they reached the last 16 of the Scottish Junior Cup.

The Airdrie junior side came up trumps against the granite city’s Hermes Juniors on Saturday and created history of their own by qualifying for the fifth round for the first time in their history.

Cairn sealed their cup progress after a sensational comeback saw them claw back a two-goal deficit and triumph in a tense penalty shoot-out over their Aberdonian counterparts.

After a 1-1 draw at MTC the week before, ‘Cairn travelled up north expecting to crash out at the hands of the reigning North Region champions but the underdogs started the match brightly and came close to scoring on several occassions.

Jordon Love quickly found himself one-on-one but his effort was smartly saved by the opposition goalkeeper before O’Donnell crashed an effort off the bar shortly after.

The deadlock remained intact at the end of the first period, with Cairn doing well to contain their hosts who had failed to register a shot on target.

But the second half did not continue in the same vein as the first. Hermes took the lead just after the hour mark when a cross-shot crept in at the back post.

One became two when Cairn were slow to react in the box after Regan made a wonderful save at a set-piece and it looked like the Central District side were heading out.

But they did not give up and halved the deficit when man of the match Kevin Ross nodded home an excellent cross by new signing Colin Marshall only three minutes later.

The shift in momentum was evident and Cairn pressed for the equaliser.

It arrived seven minutes from time when Josh Moore’s driving run created space in the box for debutant Mark Tait to drill home for 2-2.

Love almost stole the win minutes from time but he was again denied by some superb goalkeeping.

Nerves of steel were required in the subsequent shoot-out and Brady, Morgan, Marshall, Tait and Love sparked ecstatic scenes as Cairn deservedly advanced to the last 16.

Line-up: Regan; Brady; Tuite; Ross; Morgan; O’Donnell; Marshall; McAvoy; Carmichael; Love; Henderson.

A sensational comeback saw Cairn triumph in a shoot-out