Station still on track for cup run as McHugh earns Uphall replay

Uphall STATION salvaged their Scottish Cup hopes in stoppage time as they struck late to force a replay against Inverclyde in the Scottish Amateur Cup fourth round.

Station had plenty of opportunities to turn the tie around after falling behind to their west counterparts shortly before half time at Livingston's Bankton Mains artificial pitch, but it was a 91st minute header by Paul McHugh that saved the hosts.

As a result of their last-gasp rally, Uphall remain with a chance of facing fellow Lothians outfit Redhall Star at home in the fifth round of the national tourney, but, firstly, they have a difficult replay to negotiate this coming Saturday in Gourock.

"We know what we're playing against now," says Uphall coach Jim Wilson. "We've been playing our home games all over the place, so I don't think the fact the replay is away will really matter to us.

"They had some players missing on Saturday, so I'd expect them to be a stronger squad when we go through."

The home strikers seemed a little off the pace - in mind, if not in physical speed - in the early stages, with Kallum Robertson being denied at a one-on-one with Kevin McDermid after chasing down Chriss Norris' searching forward ball. Norris himself approached the Inverclyde goal from a similar position on the left-hand side of the penalty box fifteen minutes later, but, like Robertson, saw his effort blocked by McDermid with just the keeper to beat.

Inverclyde fashioned their first chance on 39 minutes and, with it, the opening goal. Stephen Morris' cross from the left found the head of Cameron Radford on the far edge of the six-yard box, and the ball looped back across goal and into the top left-hand corner with Uphall No.1 Steven Vannett rooted to the spot.

In keeping with the majority of the half, Uphall swung the balance of play in their own favour immediately afterwards. Striker Kallum Robertson stole possession from the visitors' Barry Docherty as the defender surged forward, but as Robertson stormed into the penalty area, Docherty's fellow centre back Ryan Beeley shot across the box to tackle and clear.

Uphall's hulking defender Charlie Wright almost levelled matters with a headed effort from a corner moments before the half-time whistle, but Inverclyde right-back Chris Murray was ideally positioned to clear from the post.

The West Lothian side were restricted to long-range opportunities early after the restart while Vannett in the Station goal was not to be troubled once in a lopsided second half.

On 63 minutes, Uphall midfielder Gary White beat opponent Cameron Radford to Norris' cross but blazed his close-range effort over the bar. Two minutes later, after positive wing play by White, full-back Black jinked inside his marker but shot tamely at McDermid.

Uphall were bereft of a secret ingredient, but that arrived to augment their strikeforce in the form of lively substitute Bamba Jobarteh, whose pace and willingness to run at the Inverclyde defence lit up the game.

Indeed, Jobarteh eventually assisted in Uphall's late equaliser, but could have created a goal for his side far earlier had referee Ramage spotted Inverclyde captain Ryan Beeley's ugly shoulder charge on the diminutive striker as the latter bore down on goal.

Jobarteh's fellow substitute McHugh was to have an equally powerful impact on matters, but before his leveller was guilty of spurning a glorious chance via a volley after Geo McGregor had cleverly headed Lee Manderson's cross back across goal.

Observers of Uphall's profligacy in front of goal must have imagined that such a catalogue of wastefulness would be finite, however this theory appeared to be disproved by Norris' eye-popping miss on 85 minutes. White drove the ball across the face of the Inverclyde goal from 10 yards out, with the ball, due wide of target initially, subject to a couple of deflections to take it closer to the left-hand post. Norris, on hand at the back stick, somehow contrived, while kneeling, to force the ball away from goal, rebounding off his thigh one yard in front of the goal line before being cleared by a relieved visitors' rearguard.

It was perhaps understandable that Uphall struggled to contain their frustration, and substitute Robert McGregor was fortunate to remain on the pitch after the referee missed his petulant, off-the-ball kick at opposing skipper Beeley after the ball drifted out for a throw-in.

Jobarteh, a far cooler head on his shoulders, stepped to the fore in the closing minutes, heading over and having a goalbound shot deflected wide, before, in the dying seconds, his strike spun up off the leg of a defender and McHugh headed the loose ball into the net from six yards out.

Uphall Station: Steven Vannett, Craig Black, Lee Manderson, George McGregor, Charles Wright, Derek Drumond, Gary White, Paul McCracken, Kallum Robertson, Keith Robertson, Chriss Norris, Bamba Jobarteh, Robert McGregor, Paul McHugh, James Wilson, Robert Sinclair.

Inverclyde: Kevin McDermid, Cameron Radford, Chris Murray, Barry Docherty, Ryan Beeley, Mark Gatens, Stephen Morris, Stephen Gillan, Ross Gallachar, Johnny Steele, Mark Davis, Steven O'Neill, Scott Foreman, Chris Cushnagan, Adam Kelly, Des Kelly.