Fireworks on and off pitch

AN entertaining Lothian and Edinburgh Amateur FA Logan Cup tie at Saughton 3G - overshadowed by aggressive behaviour on the touchlines - saw Tollcross Thistle and Broughton share six goals and separated only by penalties.

Referee Jim Ramage was concerned about on-field relations from the off as the two captains refused to extend a pre-match handshake - the first time the man in black had witnessed such an occurrence. "That set the alarm bells going straight away," he said. "But there were only seven cautions in the game - five for dangerous and reckless behaviour, two for dissent."

Broughton earned four of those cautions, but their player-manager Jason McCrindle was, by his own admission, lucky to avoid a straight red when referee Ramage missed him spitting in the face of the substituted Tollcross player Lee Heinemeir as Broughton prepared to take a throw-in.

The behaviour of those on the touchlines and, to a lesser extent, the players did not, for most observers, detract from a fine footballing spectacle and a thrilling cup tie.

A scrappy opening goal came the way of Tollcross, Heinemeir receiving the break of the ball on the byline to the right of Arron Griffiths' goal and cutting back for Sean Mossman, who peeled away from his marker before converting past the Broughton goalkeeper. The tackles were flying in, all firm but fair apart from Chris Malone's hefty challenge on Heinemeir, which earned the Broughton midfielder a caution.

Even if some undesirables pitchside came to the game with the wrong intentions, at least the players were fully-focused and inspired by the occasion, in particular Broughton's Craig Rankin, who teased the Tollcross defence with some great skills on the right and equalised shortly after half-time, firing under Tollcross custodian John Nisbet.

Rankin then gave his team the lead on 69. Broughton captain Michael Smith curved a free kick into the thick of a ruck of players in the Tollcross box, with the ball spinning right through to goal. Having been unsighted, Nisbet shot out a hand to stop the cross sailing directly into the net, but Rankin lurked underneath the subsequently loose ball and tucked it into the empty net.

Jason McCrindle then almost doubled Broughton's advantage with a sweet strike towards the top right-hand corner from the edge of the box, but Nisbet produced a brilliant flying save to push the ball away.

With ten minutes remaining, Tollcross drew level when on-form midfielder Stewart O'Neil floated a ball over the Broughton defence to substitute Steven Moncur, and he rolled the ball under the advancing goalkeeper Griffiths to force extra time.

Broughton were back in front as soon as extra time began, with the irrepressible Rankin breaking forward straight from kick off and planting the ball low past Nisbet. But, Tollcross levelled seven minutes later as Sean Mossman's corner was headed home by skipper Rees Allan. Thistle could have won it in the dying seconds when Moncur rounded goalie Griffiths, but Broughton defender Stuart Smith slid in superbly to clear the danger.

Having run neck-and-neck in the 120 minutes of open play, the two sides put in contrasting performances in the resultant penalty shoot-out. A nervous Tollcross missed two penalties after Allan had slotted in their first kick, whereas a stubborn Broughton confidently dispatched all four of their spot-kicks - courtesy of Brian Thomson, Jason McCrindle, Chris Malone and Stuart Smith - to take the tie.

Thistle boss Alan McKay said: "The main positive was that our players didn't react to the antagonising and the taunting."

Tollcross Thistle: John Nisbet, Alan Budge, Alan Hogarth, Rees Allan, John Lawson, Callum Roberts, Adam Robertson, Stewart O'Neil, Sean Mossman, Lee Heinemeir, Glenn Waddle, Andy Ponder, Colin Carswell, Mark Dickson, Robbie Simpson.

Broughton AFC: Arron Griffiths, Stuart Smith, Ryan Rodgers, Mark Kennedy, Chris Malone, Craig MacIntosh, Brian Thomson, Craig Rankin, Steven Smith, Scott MacIntosh, Allan McCrindle, Chris Gillan, Jason McCrindle, Michael Smith, Chris Black.