Spartans' fightback foiled by Linfield in Irn Bru Cup

Spartans Willie Bremner, left, vies for possession with Louis Rooney of Linfield at Ainslie Park. Picture: SNS.

Many questioned the wisdom of diluting the traditionally Scottish lower-league competition by inviting clubs from Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, along with the inclusion of colt teams from Scottish Premiership clubs. Poor attendances would suggest the changes have so far failed to excite the paying public.

Albion Rovers’ expulsion for fielding an unregistered player in their win over Spartans wasn’t the kind of negative press the competition needed, but in its place a 900-strong Ainslie Park crowd – terrific for a Lowland League side hosting visitors from across the Irish Sea – were treated to a hard-fought encounter that went right down to the final whistle.

Calling it a great advert for the Irn-Bru Cup would be overstating it a little, but it was the type of game which suggests there could yet be a future in the restructured version of this competition.

Though Linfield boss David Healy revealed a lengthy run was low on the list of his priorities, with three trophies to defend back home, he did admit the players treated the cross-country tournament with a bit more enthusiasm.

“We want to do well in all competitions,” goalscorer Stephen Lowry said. “We’ve got a good squad and a good manager. We won three cups last year and this ranks highly. We’re confident we can do well this year.

“We’re just happy to get into the next round because last year we were disappointed to go out at the first hurdle [losing to Queen of the South].”

Linfield’s passage into round three seemed assured when Lowry added to Louis Rooney’s first-half penalty just four minutes into the second period.

The Irish League champions had dominated proceedings to that point, which was to be expected.

The standard of quality within their ranks would probably have them in the Championship if they were dropped into the Scottish football structure.

There was also a sense of pride to play for. While nobody would deride Linfield for either of their losses against Celtic in Champions League qualifying, a defeat is still a defeat. Leaving with a victory on this occasion was an absolute must.

“We kept it respectable against Celtic but they’re obviously a level above,” reasoned Lowry. “We got a good test from Spartans and it was two part-time teams up against each other.

“We definitely feel like we’re representing Northern Ireland when we’re in this competition. We want to improve our reputation in Scotland and Wales because we’ve maybe damaged it a wee bit with Celtic beating us.

“We want to do as well as possible and the manager will want to do well as well and go a bit further.

“We’re up against full-time teams so it’s a bigger challenge for us.”

If they are to face a full-time opponent after Tuesday’s third-round draw, and there’s a good chance that will happen, they will need to keep their levels of intensity going throughout the 90 minutes, which they failed to do against their non-league hosts on Saturday. Substitute Blair Aitkinson, pictured, pulled one back and the young attacker almost created an equaliser with a great cross for Ross Allum, who saw his close-range shot saved by Gareth Deane in the Linfield goal.

Lowry pointed to the unusual preparations, caused by the Albion Rovers fiasco, as a reason for their sub-par final 20 minutes.

He said: “We came over the night before and we got the boat because we didn’t know if we were going to Glasgow or Edinburgh. We were a bit leggy. We travelled for six or seven hours yesterday.”