Uphall pour the misery on Cabrera

It was not only the relentless rain but the concession of six goals and a place in the Scottish (Saturday) Amateur Cup fourth round that made for a thoroughly miserable afternoon for Capital side Cabrera Athletic, who bowed out of the national tourney to Uphall Station.

Three leagues separate the sides in the Lothian and Edinburgh Amateur FA setup and for reigning top tier champions Uphall the match served the purpose of offering a fillip to their stop-start campaign in Premier Division 1.

The West Lothian side's manager, Jim Wilson, arrived with his squad at an ominously wet Saughton and was immediately guilty of judging on appearance the hosts, Cabrera, who had turned up every inch the professionals in smart, matching suits. "We knew we were in for a game then," said Wilson afterwards.

However, while there were sporadic periods of cogent play by the home side, it was their illustrious visitors who best adapted to the restricting elements on an artificial surface that, surprisingly, bore little slickness despite the constant downpour.

Uphall exerted sustained pressure on the Cabrera goal for the opening 25 minutes, with Steven Eccles, the home No.1, surviving attack after attack. After a hat-trick of gilt-edged chances to score, Station opened their account via a corner from the right, which was met by a poorly-directed clearing header, the ball falling to visiting captain Geo McGregor on the middle of the 18-yard line and he volleyed into the bottom left-hand corner of the net.

Two minutes later, the match referee may well have blamed the fading visibility inflicted by an increasingly heavy rainfall, for he was well-placed to have witnessed a shot by Uphall's Paul McCracken clearly cross the line before the ball was cleared by Jack McGhie. The man in the middle waved "play on" and, in any case, the incredulity of those on the visiting touchline was relieved by their side emphatically hitting another goal just seconds later.

Cabrera had no answer to a well-worked training ground free kick routine that began near the right-hand touchline. Criss Norris touched the ball for McGregor to hold up before bolting across to a more central position 25 yards from goal, receiving the ball back from his captain and rocketing a first-time effort high into the net.

The match official was again called into action to judge a controversial decision on 33 minutes, but this time the incident was far more clear-cut as Cabrera earned a penalty after Station full-back Gary White tripped Willie Manson on the left-hand side of the Uphall box next to the bye-line. Allan Plews tucked his effort into the inner side-netting of the left-hand corner of the net, with Uphall 'keeper Sinclair guessing the wrong way.

Five minutes later, another straightforward penalty call was awarded after Uphall No.9 Bamba Jobarteh, shielding the ball from Cabrera's Lee Greenan, was clumsily felled by his aggressor, and McGregor coolly dispatched his second strike of the game past Eccles.

If Cabrera still harboured ambitions of a comeback, their hopes were destroyed shortly before half-time when Lee Manderson's drive across the six-yard box from the left was subject to a horrible deflection and spun past Eccles.

Athletic still persisted admirably after the break, and Jason Wood struck the Uphall woodwork with a 20-yard effort. At the other end, Eccles intently watched McGregor's audacious long-range lob from halfway and succeeded in tracking back towards his goalline before tipping the ball over the bar.

Now with a taste for spectacular shooting, Uphall notched their fifth goal on 72 minutes in superb style, Norris's sizzling drive from 30 yards out on the left searing into the top right-hand corner. The scoring was completed ten minutes later when Brian McPhillie converted a close-range chance.

Cabrera: Steven Eccles, Allan Plews, Willie Manson, Jack McGhie, John Paul Jamieson, Bryan Weir, Jason Wood, Lee Greenan, Kieran Proven, Gordon Falconer, James Palmer, Colin Campbell, Steven Campbell, Chris Dodds, Darren Ray-Lunn, Craig Fisher.

Uphall: Robert Sinclair, Gary White, Lee Manderson, George McGregor, Keith Robertson, Paul McCracken, Paul McHugh, Derek Drummond, Bamba Jobarteh, Scott Gallacher, Criss Norris, Charles Wright, Kalum Robertson, Brian McPhillie, Steven Flemming, Steven Vannett.