It was Déjà vu as Finnart Boys Club overcome Albion Rovers 2-1 for the second time this season to progress into the semi final of the Cumbernauld and Kilsyth League Cup.

The previous meeting between the two had been in the league, with both sides being in a good run of form since that match. Finnart had amassed an impressive five wins in a row with their most recent being a 9-1 win against Dalziel. Meanwhile, Rovers were on a seven game winning streak including a 9-1 win away to Sauchie Juniors in their last game.

Albion Rovers kicked off the first half of the 2pm kick off at a sunny Glasgow Green shooting left to right. Despite this it was Finnart who took the early initiative with Mark Taylor bursting through on the counter attack in the 4th minute. The tall striker managed to get away from the Rovers defence and round the onrushing Reece Thomson but was unable to stop the ball from going out of play.

A minute later, lovely wing play from Barry Peters left him with space in the box to pick out Taylor at the back post, but again he was unable to convert and hit the side netting. Rovers best chance in the opening exchanges fell to Captain Nick Mullen who found the ball at his feet in the box following a free-kick. However, he ended up firing his shot straight at Ross Fisher, who saved easily.

In the 11th minute Taylor tested his luck again, this time cutting in from the left to the edge of the box and unleashing a powerful effort goalward. However, it was well blocked by the Rovers defence and though initially spilled by Thomson, he eventually gathered. Rovers best chances continued to come from free-kicks and another one in the 18th minute found Robbie Kilpatrick at the back post and his header was well saved by an alert Fisher.

Rovers then began to start dominate with their aerial bombardment through corners and free kicks. They did put the ball in the back of the net in the 20th minute with Kilpatrick powering past Fisher but the referee ruled out the goal, due to a foul in the box. They again came close in the 35th minute with a free kick finding Mullen in the box but his header was saved by Fisher, as the first half ended 0-0. 

Despite dominating the late stages of the first half it was Rovers who found themselves a goal down two minutes after the restart. Fantastic footwork from Dermot Maguire on the right wing found him darting into the box where he was taken down and a penalty was awarded. Up stepped forward Calum Glasgow who coolly tucked it away into the bottom right hand corner, sending Thomson as the striker said: “to the shops”.

A minute later and Rovers nearly immediately equalised with Jack Stewart capitalising on the still celebrating Finnart defences lapse of concentration to race through on goal. However, his shot was just wide of the bottom left hand corner and Rovers remained a goal down. In a remarkable three-minute period Kilpatrick then saw red in the 49th minute for foul and abusive language towards the referee, leaving Rovers down to ten men.

Despite having less players Rovers seemed galvanised and began to dominate proceedings again. In the 50th minute Stewart showed excellent skill on the right wing to create space in the Finnart box but again dragged his shot just wide of the left hand post. However, eventually the Rovers pressure was too much for Finnart to handle and they grabbed an equaliser in the 70th minute.

The ball fell to Morgan Dunlop in the box who turned it into the middle and after some defensive confusion somehow ended up in the back of the net, past a hopeless Fisher. The referee adjudged Dunlop’s ball was not going in and said Finnart defender Jonathan Grier turned it into the back of the net.

Finnart then began to come back into the game with Peters going close to grabbing a winner in the 78th minute. The wingers perfectly timed fake shot in the box completely fooled the Rovers defence but his powerful near post drive was well saved by Thomson. However, Thomson could do nothing to stop the winner seven minutes later. Peters defence splitting pass found Thomas Fenion in the box who made no mistake slipping the ball past Thomson at the near post.

The winner sparked jubilant celebrations from the Finnart players and staff and despite a nervy few last minutes they managed to secure their place into the semi-final of the competition.