McGlynn jubilant as side reach Cup final

Musselburgh reached the pinnacle of Junior Football, the Fly Emirates Scottish Cup final, thanks to a first-half goal from Scott Gibson in front of a packed Dalry ground.

"It was the highlight of my football career so far, especially for a small side like ourselves," said Gibson. "Hopefully this will give us a boost we need to keep our Super League status and go on to better things."

The game was held up for 15 minutes to allow the huge crowd of more than 2,000 in to see if Dalry could overturn their defeat at the hands of Musselburgh in the first leg last week.

Last week they started the better of the two sides but this time they face a far more determined Musselburgh.

Musselburgh were pulling the strings now and the Dalry defence were stretched to the limit.

It was no surprise when Musselburgh opened their account in the 25th minute. Chris King took a super corner from the right and Scott Gibson rose at the back post to loop a header towards the near post. Dalry keeper Ross Stewart flapped at it but couldn't hold it as it ran backwards into the net. Dalry had to push forward now and their best chance fell to Cameron McKinnell but his header smacked hit the bar and was cleared.

The second half saw Musselburgh stepping up a gear in the opening minutes, Chris and Mattu King both coming close to adding to their tally. Finally, though, Dalry found their feet with left winger James Canning proving influential. It was now Musselburgh who were under pressure. Dalry hit the woodwork again but, every time they looked like equalising, the chance was wasted.

The more the game went on, the more it looked like Dalry's name was not going to be printed on the Silverware come the end of May. But, with half an hour to go, Lady Luck looked like she was shining on them. Andy Bell was sent crashing in the box for a penalty. There were no complaints from Musselburgh. Craig Menzies stepped forward with a chance to level the game, but he crashed his effort off the outside of the post.

Chances went a begging at both ends now as Dalry pushed forward at every opportunity. They got their rewards with ten minutes to go. James Canning's free-kick beat Kieron Renton at the near post to set up a nervy end to the game. Musselburgh, though, held firm to run down the clock. Dalry's Cameron McKinnell was sent off for a double booking to complete their misery.

Musselburgh boss Davy McGlynn said: "I'm over the moon for these lads. They played a terrific game of football. We came here to finish the job and we did. I think over the two games we deserved to win. They had to come out after we scored and they battered us in the second half. I feel sorry for them because of the effort they put in without getting a return. It's the players though who deserve all the credit. They applied themselves to get the job done.

"I brought them here to the club and this is the reward they get for all their hard work. As for Auchinleck, we'll worry about them when the time comes. As for right now, we have a game against Bo'ness on Monday night to take care of first. We'll enjoy ourselves tonight because this is a massive result for us - one for the history books."

Goalscorer Gibson added: "We deserved this result. This is my second spell at the club and I didn't feature at the start of the season. The last time I was here we had a good team but this is even better. We're now only 90 minutes away from having our name on the Scottish Cup. We know that the Talbot will be favourites but we're going to give it our best shot in the final."

Assistant coach Iain Ramage, who came on as a sub to stem the flow towards the Musselburgh end, said: "The boys did well. It was a terrific shift from everyone and we got our reward."

Dalry: Stewart, Hay, Fleeting (Ward), Menzies, McKinnell, Potter, Bell, Patterson (McCann), Sanderson, McMillan (Brown), Canning. Subs: Strain, Seymour, Russell, Cusick.

Musselburgh: Ki Renton, Gordon, Noble, Gibson, Kerr, Morgan, Shand, Beveridge, K Renton, C King (Tansey), M King (Ramage). Subs: Russell, Porteous, Murray, Mitchell, Adams .

Dalry Thistle 1

Musselburgh Athletic 1

(aggregate 1-2)