Muirkirk, with WAGS in tow, get a bit of a lashing from Leith Vics

Despite promising a toe-to-toe contest in the opening minutes, Muirkirk faded dramatically to afford Vics a thoroughly dominant display in which they notched six goals without reply on a sodden afternoon at Saughton 3G.

The flood of goals - and rain - made for a miserable trip for Muirkirk's incongruous band of glamorous WAGS on the touchline, many of whom retired to the shelter of the pavilion long before the final whistle. Many of the players who had travelled through from the west must have wished they could do likewise, in particular the away side's impressive No.?10, Martin Griffin, who pulled the strings in the Muirkirk midfield with little assistance from his colleagues.

Griffin and co found themselves one behind as early as the fifth minute, as the Capital side's Scott Sutherland opened the scoring with a well-taken goal. Vics' Peter Conaghan nearly doubled the advantage five minutes later as he met a right-wing cross on the turn but sent his snapshot narrowly wide of the target.

Darren Burns was next to line up a shot at Ian Bradford's goal, but the Muirkirk custodian blocked the strike then lunged to grab the loose ball before Vics' Ryan Moore could snaffle it. Shortly before half-time, though, Bradford was beaten once more. A Vics corner was knocked away from goal by the Muirkirk defence, but the ball was immediately returned straight back into the penalty area as the visitors' rearguard began to advance. Conaghan ran onto the ball and, from 12 yards, netted via the left-hand post.

After the break, Vics Ryan Moore spurned a great chance by sidefooting past the right-hand post following great work by central midfielder Jamie Watson on the left-hand side of the penalty area.

Then, Conaghan passed up another gilt-edged chance as he fired wide of the right-hand post after being played through by Sean Loughlin.

Starters orders were given to the Vics attackers on 65 minutes, and a remarkable sequence of four goals in the following ten minutes pulled the home side well clear of Muirkirk.

John-Ross Kerr was tripped in the box and dispatched the penalty himself, then the same man met a long, floating free kick on the left-hand side of the area with a vicious volley that flew past Bradford and into the far corner of the net.

Sutherland struck his second of the game on 70 minutes, cutting inside after being set free on the left, and blasting the ball into the top corner.

Ryan Moore's half-volley 15 minutes from time completed the rout, and Edinburgh South Vics coach Johnny Love admitted he had expected a tougher test by his side's Ayrshire opponents. He said: "Their manager was saying their form was a bit hot and cold. They had a good result in the West of Scotland Cup against a Premier Lanarkshire side, beating them 4-1, which led me to believe they were quite capable. They started well, passed the ball about and created space. Their midfield was good, but they didn't seem to have too much up front and their defenders gave the ball away too easily."

Mr Love, who hopes for an away tie in the next round of the national tourney, was delighted his side maintained its fine run of goalscoring form at their new Saughton home.

"We seem to do well on the 3G - we've never scored any fewer than four," he said. "We had a bit of a purple patch in 20 minutes of the second half. Wee Gary Burns on the right, that's his first season with us and he's playing exceptionally well. We're lucky to be at this stage of 'the Scottish' at all, though, as in the first round against Braehead, we drew 5-5 at Saughton then had to go to penalties up at Stirling, and scored late equalisers in both games."

Other than Vics, Redhall Star, and Livingston AFC were the only LEAFA sides to succeed in their home ties, while Broughton AFC, Granton Vale, and Tollcross Thistle all enjoyed wins on the road to progress to the Scottish (Saturday) Amateur Cup fourth round.

Edinburgh South Vics: Kris Lennie, Lee Watson, Scott Sutherland, Gary Burns, Jon Blues, Peter Gilhooly, Peter Conaghan, Ryan Moore, Mike Kennedy, Sean Loughlin, Darren Burns, Jamie Watson, Chris Morrison, Gary Bell, Mark Wilson, John-Ross Kerr.

Muirkirk AFC: Ian Bradford, John McEwan, Kevin Adair, Mark Hamilton, Ross Hastings, John Dempster, Colin Muir, Scott Murphy, Michael Thorburn, Martin Griffin, Craig Burns, William Scotland, William McMillan, Hugh Fyfe, Michael McMillan, David Murphy.

"They didn't seem to have too much up front and their defenders gave the ball away too easily" johnny love