Rutherglen Glencairn are through to the final of the Scottish Cup after a narrow victory over Tower Hearts. Jordan Davidson was alive to a loose ball in the Tower Hearts box to slot home the only goal of a tense match, with the defeated side missing a number of opportunities in the second half.

With so much to play for, it was no surprise that both teams looked nervy in the opening stages and struggled to retain possession. The Glens fashioned the first chance of the match after neat build-up play down the left saw David Quinn feed Anton Phinn, but the forward fired wide. And just a couple of minutes later Njablo Ndlovu fizzed one by the same post from distance.

The best attacks for both sides were coming down the left. Michael McLarne twice got in behind the Glens backline but couldn’t quite make anything happen for Tower Hearts. They were the first side to get the ball in the back of the net when Scott Cameron headed home, but he was penalised for a challenge on Chris Truesdale in the Rutherglen goal.

Tower Hearts should have taken the lead when David Seagrave latched on to a ball over the top, but the striker seemed to hesitate and rather than take the chance first time, he laid it back to Cameron. By that time however, Glens defenders were getting back behind the ball and Cameron’s shot took a deflection, taking the sting out of it and allowing a comfortable save for Truesdale.

The keeper launched a quick counter attack and it was time for Glens to be frustrated by a good block, Lee Martin preventing Ndlovu’s shot from troubling the goalie.

Rangers sauntered to heavy victory over arch-rivals Celtic at Lennoxtown Training Centre in the Glasgow Cup, coming out 6-1 winners on a wet Wednesday night.

After surviving a brief period of pressure from their hooped opponents, Rangers took control of the match and hat-tricks for Owen McGinty and Matt Yates meant there rivals never had a look in. Celtic’s consolation from Michael Sparkes had given them some semblance of hope at 2-1, but Rangers were far more clinical when it mattered.

The opening quarter of an hour suggested that the home side would have the better of the tie and that they had adapted to the uncomfortable conditions quicker than Rangers, and winger Owen Moffat was dazzling down the right. Jinking past defenders, cutting inside to play inch-perfect through balls and crosses, Moffat was the star of the show early on and had Sparkes and Paul Kennedy provided better finishes to his passes, Celtic may have got the early momentum.

Instead it was Rangers who found the breakthrough a quarter of the way through the game. Captain Cieran Dickson played a neat one-two with Murray Miller that left the Celtic defender forced to foul, and up stepped McGinty to hit a clever free-kick under the wall, deceiving Ryan Mullen in the Celtic goal and nestling in the back of the net.

As quickly as it was one, it was two. McGinty again the scorer but it was all about the pass from Kai Kennedy, allowing him to cut inside and find the target.

Rangers were playing with a speed and purpose that meant although Celtic had the majority of the possession, as soon as a player in blue picked it up he was looking for a forward pass, a ball over the top, a way to outfox the Celtic backline. And it was working.

However, there was no chance Moffat was going to let this game go without a fight. He had taken a few heavy knocks from Rangers players but was still willing to take them on, and beat them more often than not. So it proved just a few minutes after Rangers second as he worked his way into the box, and with the shot on, he smartly rolled the ball across goal for Sparkes to spark what they hoped would be a comeback.

Celtic were certainly reignited by the goal and when Moffat played in Scott Cusick they could almost taste the equaliser, but Lewis Buoinackus made an important stop at his near post.

The importance of the chance was underlined when, minutes before half-time, Yates ghosted in at the back post taking the defence completely unaware to knock home Dickson’s cross and restore the two goal lead.

Rangers swept aside Queen’s Park in the Glasgow Cup with a Zak Rudden hat-trick inspiring them to a relaxed 6-0 victory. It took Rudden and Rangers just seven minutes to open the scoring and they never looked back from there, with their goalkeeper Billy Kinnear a virtual spectator throughout. The impressive Daniel Finlayson added to an assured and confident performance at the back by getting the second, with Matifadza Zata and Matthew Shiels ensuring that victory was beyond doubt before the half-time whistle. Rudden completed his hat-trick with goals at the start and end of the second half to put some extra gloss on the scoreline.

The opening five minutes gave no indication of the whitewash to follow as both teams probed one another and had a corner apiece, but it didn’t take long before an individual piece of brilliance from Rudden set Rangers on their way.

Skilfully cutting inside down the right, he danced along the by-line, using stepovers to twist and turn between three defender before beating Elliot Anderson at his near post with a fierce shot.

Credit to Queen’s Park, they didn’t let their heads drop at the first sign of trouble and carved out what would be their best opportunity of the match in response. A throw-in down the left hand side went to Ronan McLaughlin who held play up and set-up Declan Walsh on the edge of the penalty box for an effort that looked destined for the far top corner before curling away at the last moment.

Having only narrowly been beaten 2-1 by Rangers earlier in the season, Queen’s would have felt they were capable of getting back into this but it proved to be a costly miss as Rangers began to impress their superiority on the visitors, with Billy Gilmour forcing Anderson into a good save with his legs. The resulting corner should have put Rangers two ahead but Finlayson’s header went just wide.

Even at this early stage, centre back Finlayson looked a tough prospect for Queen’s Park to bypass. A good reader of the game, he was quick to intercept their forward passes and strong in the tackle if it came to it. Although not wearing the captain’s armband, he was talkative, marshalling his teammates, and organising those in front of him.

He was also proving a serious danger from set-pieces and if he improved his heading accuracy he could easily have grabbed three or four goals for himself in this match. As it was he gave Rangers some breathing space by scoring the second from close range. Rudden took a short corner with Gilmour whose shot from the corner of the penalty box looked to be heading in but Finlayson made sure by nodding home under pressure.

Much like the Rangers first team, their u17s played a fluid 4-3-3 formation with Rudden the tip of the spear and Zata and Shiels down the flanks around him but willing to swap sides or drop deeper as the supporting Gilmour and Cameron Palmer came forward.

Zata was the quietest of the front three in the first half but he lit the game up with a magnificent curling effort into the top corner just after the half hour mark. Anderson was at full stretch on the dive but could do nothing about it.

It was hard to see a way back for Queen’s Park from three down and it would have been worse were it not for the heroics of Lewis Magee. The Queen’s captain was proving his worth with a series of important tackles and blocks at the back as Rangers poured forward. Both Rudden and Zata were denied almost certain goals thanks to the intervention of Magee.

Queen’s thought they’d found a lifeline when Andy McLaughlin put the ball in the back of the net but he was ruled offside. Rangers would then also see the linesman’s flag deny them a goal when Shiels looked to be scoring after great skill from Gilmour, only for Zata to be penalised for trying to steal what already looked like a certain goal. It was a half of contrasts for Zata who showed flashes of brilliance and madness in equal parts.

There was nothing but brilliance from Rudden however and he played a major part in the final move of the half, delightfully dummying a through ball, taking out the defence and allowing Shiels to get through one-on-one and finish through Anderson’s legs.

A cold wet evening in Lochinch Playing Fields provided the stage for a City of Glasgow Cup clash between Queens Park and Partick Thistle. The conditions were perfect for both side’s youngsters to put their talent on display. 

Queens Park gained the upper hand in the opening few minutes, showing tidy and patient football, Partick on the other hand offered a much more physical threat. Thistle adopted a 3-5-2 formation throughout the first half, a tactic that seems to be prominent throughout the majority of their age groups.

It was Queens who drew first blood, when an angled pass was fired into the feet of Arron Mooney who raced down the inside left channel, cut inside to beat the central defender, and slotted the ball underneath the ‘keeper to open the scoring for the away side.

The physical aspect of the game was very much present, collisions and meaty challenges constantly on the table, although the referee clearly tried to allow the game to flow, despite having to deal with a high number of fouls.

Queens 4-2-3-1 shape proved to be a handful for the Thistle group, and their high-energy style and constant pressing was proving a real thorn in the side of Thistle, who really struggled to create clear-cut chances as a result.

The second goal was a result of this pressing, with the lively Arron Black chasing, harrying, and making life uncomfortable for Partick’s players. A stray ball kindly dropped to centre forward Ronan McLauchlin, who found himself with time and space, and he calmly volleyed home to make it 2-0 to Queens.

Eventually the ball found itself into the Queens half, providing an opportunity for Thistle to get themselves back into the cup-tie. Thistle pressed with intent in the closing stages of the first 45, Gallasso giving everything to drag his team away from defeat. They couldn’t find their goal before half-time though, despite Grainger, Last and Galasso all combining well in possession, and using their width to attack Queens.

The cup-tie very much became a back and forth affair until James Grant, who was often the creative outlet for Queens, regained possession in the centre and angled a pass out to the lightning fast Mooney. Just as before, he cut inside and slid the ball across to Black, who smashed home to put his team three goals to the good, and dampen the spirits of the Thistle team.