Southern pay penalty for squandering goal chances

EDINBURGH SOUTHERN equalised with ten minutes left on the clock to take their Foster's Scottish Sunday Amateur Trophy fourth-round tie to extra-time, but North Broomage took the spoils from the subsequent penalty shoot-out at the Gyle.

Lothian and Edinburgh Amateur FA side Southern had defeated Edinburgh United and Annan Subway before facing the Larbert side and, after multiple postponements of the fixture, the teams had to wait a further 120 minutes to decide on a winner, playing out a 1-1 draw before Broomage triumphed 4-1 on penalties.

Even before taking to the boggy field for their first match in more than a month, Southern weren't without their troubles. Injuries dictated that midfielder Richard Rintoul, the club's player of the year for the past two seasons, played as a goalkeeper, while other key men were also missing from the hosts' line-up.

Despite their sky-blue-and-white striped shirts and black shorts, the visitors could barely have been mistaken for the Argentina national team during a turgid first half in which only two goalscoring opportunities were presented at either end.

Broomage's Gary Valentine was shown little love by the right-hand post that repelled his curling effort from long distance, and Southern's Colin Lister was denied at point-blank range by goalkeeper Dominic Sinclair before Christopher Struther skied the rebound. Stand-in goalie Rintoul looked for all the world like a regular No.1 – and one of a calibre exceeding amateur football – with a blinding save early in the second half.

Broomage's inspirational captain, Jamie Allan, embarked on one of the surging runs from central defence that punctuated the second half before flicking the ball to Ross Curwood on the edge of the penalty area. Although Curwood struck the ball towards the left-hand corner with near-perfect accuracy, Rintoul spectacularly flew to his right to push the ball away at waist height.

The Capital side's substitute, Marco Rossi, shot narrowly wide on the hour-mark, but the moment was more important for another incident. In the build-up to their attack, Southern's Struthers had fouled Broomage full-back Gavin Ross in gaining possession and, in the visitors' continuing protests long after Rossi's effort had been and gone, defender Martin Stoddart was given a yellow card by the referee.

His team-mate Andrew Faulds earned Broomage's second booking of the game soon after as the visitors grew frustrated. Certainly, their strikers Don McInnes and Curwood should have been tearing their hair out at missed opportunities in the second half.

At the other end, Southern's Gary Moyes and strike partner Lister proved ineffective against the opposition's stubborn backline of skipper Allan and fellow central defender Stoddart. On 73 minutes, it took a defender – Allan – to open the scoring after one of his trademark forward forays, the No.4 heading in from a left-wing cross to beat Rintoul.

Southern chose an opportune time to fashion their first clear-cut chance of the half seven minutes later, equalising with just ten minutes to play courtesy of a determined Struther.

The left winger, driving towards goal through the middle, was afforded plenty of space on the edge of the penalty area to pick his spot, and opted for the right-hand corner of Sinclair's goal, the goalkeeper getting nowhere near his inch-perfect strike.

Southern looked to be in the ascendancy when opposition defender Stoddart was sent off for a second yellow card, the latter for a foul, as the game entered extra-time.

Both sides had opportunities to seize the game during the added half-hour but could not convert them – Broomage striker McInnes twice spurning chances in front of goal, while Thomas Martin and Darren Rintoul showed equal profligacy at the other end.

In the resultant penalty shoot-out, only Gary Moyes was able to net a spot-kick for Southern, while Broomage converted every one of their 12-yard efforts to win the tie.

Southern manager Alasdair Howie bemoaned his side's lack of personnel, but was adamant that the club can win some silverware this season.

"We were missing a few key players," he said. "In the first half, we were a little lacklustre. It was a very heavy pitch, but we can't blame that. We had four or five chances to score but just couldn't put the ball in the net.

"It was our first competitive game in a while, so we were a bit off the pace. The Scottish Cup is a bonus, to be honest. We're hoping to get some silverware this season and still have the league and other cups to play for."

Edinburgh Southern: Richard Rintoul, Stuart Doyle, Martin Lyons, Thomas Martin, Darren Rintoul, Christopher Scott, Juanjo Sanz Fernandez, Malcolm Booden, Gary Moyes, Christopher Struther, Stephen Fraser, Andrew Milne Colin Lister, Marco Rossi.

North Broomage: Dominic Sinclair, Gavin Ross, Gary Moore, Jamie Allan, Martin Stoddart, Gary Valentine, Iain Glen, Andrew Faulds, Don McInnes, Ross Morton, Ross Curwood, Stuart Morrison, Keith McDougall.