King hails Gibson and whole Musselburgh team for effort

Instead, he reckons the former Airdrie defender deserved nothing but praise along with the rest of his team-mates for putting up a spirited show in the 2-1 extra-time loss to the Ayrshire aces.

Gibson's misplaced pass just before the break allowed Michael McCann to fire Auchinleck into the lead and they went on to claim a ninth success in the competition. But, both before and after that, the big stopper was immense at the heart of the Musselburgh defence, making tackle after tackle and block after block as the favourites were made to work hard for their win.

"We are always giving Gibby stick about the fact he can't kick a ball but when it comes to defending he's probably one of the best players in the league," said King. "It was just unfortunate that he tried to hook it and it's gone to their player but no-one is pointing any finger of blame at him as he was tremendous in the game."

Gibson himself revealed that he'd feared the worst when a pass from team-mate Alan Morgan landed at his weaker foot.

"As anyone who knows me will tell you, I've not got a left foot," he admitted. "I tried my best but I made a bit of a howler.

"I was disappointed about that but, at the same time, I think we all did well to get back into the game."

Chris King equalised with 14 minutes to go and, during the closing stages of normal time, the East Lothian side looked more likely to get a winner.

In the end, a goal early in extra-time from Bryan Young killed that dream but the team captain insisted the Olivebank side should feel proud of their performance.

"To lose a goal so close to half-time was disappointing but in the second-half we kicked on and for the last 20 minutes I thought we had them on the ropes," said King.

"At that stage, I thought there was only going to be one winner and I thought we might have had a penalty for a foul on big Kris Renton. Then we were hit by a sucker punch at the start of extra-time when we lost our focus and from then on it was another battle for us to try and get back on level terms again.

"But we've made a bit of a name for ourselves and hopefully we can build on this for next season and beyond."

Gibson added: "It might not have been the greatest of games but we were always going to have to work hard to have a chance against Auchinleck.

"Half of us couldn't walk at the end - we had put that much effort into the game."

For scorer King, his goal meant he'd netted in every round he had played in this season's competition, having also been on target against Stoneyburn, Renfrew, Kilburnie Ladeside and Dalry.

"I was delighted to score in the Junior Cup Final especially the time it came as we were on top at that stage in the game," he said. It also carried on my scoring run in the competition, which was pleasing. But it would have been better if it had helped us win the trophy!

"After getting the goal, I think if the game had gone on an extra five minutes we'd also have got the winner. But when extra-time started we went to sleep for a bit and they got what proved to be the winner. We're gutted but I think we went out and did Musselburgh proud."

He added: "The boys are saying already that there's always next year and hopefully we can have another good run and get back to the final."

After a well-deserved break, it will be back to business for David McGlynn and his players before too long. And, having secured Super League survival, they are determined to try and challenge for the title next season. "If we had started the way we ended this season then we could have been up there this time," said Sunday's captain King.