Scottish Communities Cup holders Johnstone Burgh’s defence of the trophy came to a frustrating end as they lost 2-1 to an inspired Dundee North End side in today’s quarter-final at a warm and sunny Keanie Park, Johnstone.
Burgh manager Murdo MacKinnon made one change from the starting XI that beat St Cadoc’s 3-1 a week ago, with Stuart Faulds replacing Ian McShane.
Frankie Devine had the first chance of the match for Dundee North End in the 5th minute, but his right-foot shot from 16 yards was dragged wide of the left-hand post.
It had been a quiet start to the match for the Burgh. Their first chance came in the 23rd minute, but Lewis King’s header at the back post from an Aaron Mason free kick, from around 8 yards, was saved by Dundee North End goalkeeper Ross Matthews.
Broque Watson was next to have an opening for the Burgh in the 27th minute, but his left-foot shot from 16 yards, from the right side of the box, was saved by Matthews.
In the 34th minute, Aidan Gilmartin had two well-struck shots blocked inside the box in the space of 30 seconds, as the Dundee North End defence held firm.
Gilmartin would come even closer to giving the Burgh the lead four minutes later, following some good play on the wing by Aaron Mason on the left. He then fed the ball to the big striker, but his well-struck shot from 14 yards was brilliantly saved by Matthews. Darren Christie almost got to the rebound, but it was not to be.
The teams would go in level at the break.
Dundee North End made a bright start to the second half and would take the lead through Bobby Linn in the 49th minute. The experienced former Arbroath man collected the ball around 20 yards from goal, made some space for himself, and fired a lovely left-foot shot from the edge of the box high into the left-hand corner of the net, leaving Luke Scullion with no chance.
Aidan Gilmartin came very close to equalising for Johnstone Burgh in the 55th minute as the big striker made an opening for himself at the edge of the box, but his powerful left-foot shot, which looked to be heading for the top left-hand corner, was brilliantly tipped over the crossbar by Ross Matthews.
Just a minute later, Lewis King had a chance to level the game, but his goal-bound header from around 6 yards was blocked on the line.
Dundee North End almost made it 2-0 in the 57th minute. A poor clearance from Luke Scullion fell to Bobby Linn about 40 yards from goal, but with the empty net to aim at, his first-time right-foot shot went wide of the left-hand post.
Midway through the second half, it would be Dundee North End who threatened again, but Leo Howett’s shot from 25 yards went wide of the left-hand post.
As the Burgh chased the equaliser, Kyle Lafferty had a chance from 12 yards but his powerful header was comfortably saved by Matthews, with just 15 minutes of normal time remaining.
Dundee North End would score their second goal of the afternoon in the 87th minute. A long throw from Liam Gibb landed at the feet of Leo Howett, who found himself in a great position to put a dangerous ball across the face of goal, but the final touch would come from Danny O’Neill, who diverted the ball into his own net for an unfortunate own goal.
Just two minutes later, Kyle Lafferty gave the Burgh a lifeline. Scott Forrester did well to win a header which fell to the Northern Irishman, who then fired an unstoppable shot from the edge of the box high into the net, leaving Matthews rooted to the spot.
As the game was about to enter added time, Kyle Lafferty almost scored his second goal in the space of 60 seconds, but his well-struck shot from 8 yards was brilliantly blocked by the Dundee North End defender.
The final chance of the match came for Johnstone Burgh in the 93rd minute, but Danny O’Neill’s header at the back post sailed over the crossbar.
Dundee North End would see out the final three minutes of added time to seal a 2-1 win and their place in Sunday night’s semi-final draw at Hampden Park.
After the match, Burgh manager Murdo MacKinnon said: “I thought we were at our wimper, to be totally honest with you. I don’t think it’s a, certainly not a performance that reflects on what we’ve been trying to do here over the last couple of years. So, bitterly disappointed in the performance of the group today.
“I think there was so much wrong with the performance. I think we lacked energy, we lacked an enthusiasm, which is incredible in a Scottish Cup quarter-final. I thought that Dundee were far more competitive, far more hungry.
“I don’t think they won a second ball all day. Part of the problem with it, and we gave away really, really poor goals. I think the performance today is just, the result epitomises how we started the game today in terms of our performance.
“So, bitterly disappointed, but no shocked. You cannae perform like that on that occasion and expect to come through. It’s not going to happen.
“Credited to Dundee North End, they’re a good side, well organised and they’ve got good players. We’ve came across them a couple of times already here. I knew it was going to be a tough game, I knew we were going to have to start well like we did here last year. That just wasn’t the case.
“They didn’t start well whatsoever. They were on the back foot, they gained territory on us straight away. We were far too deep in the game as well. I think our general play was really poor, really sloppy. In terms of the simple stuff, our passing, our setting, people and stuff like that. I thought it was abysmal all day, if I’m going to be totally honest with you.
“Until we get to the final bit of the game where we make some changes in the game earlier on. Half an hour to go and try to give us a spark. I don’t know if it gave us a spark or not. But certainly in the latter part of the game, the last ten minutes of the game, Lars put himself about and made a decent impact for us. He gets a smashing goal.
“But we get a smashing goal at a time where we’ve just conceded a really, really, really poor goal. Really poor. They’ve no hip to work for.
“There’s so many different aspects of our game that I’m bitterly disappointed with just now. I think as a group, everybody within the group needs to have a wee look at themselves and needs to show a wee bit of character. We’ve got an awful lot of football to play between now and the end of the season.
“I thought their performance today looked like an end of season game, if I’m being totally honest with you. So I’m bitterly disappointed. I’ll reflect on that myself. I take responsibility for putting the team in the park.
“I’ll be good here and I’ll certainly be looking at the team that I’ve picked and whether that’s the right bodies. I’ll need to speak with the staff and we’ll analyse it and we’ll have a look. I might just need to start picking bodies that are not going to perform on the weekly. Because at the moment I’m not getting that at all. That’s really disappointing for the group of players as well. The performance levels are really poor.
“Apologies to the supporters. They come and they expect a level of performance out of the group, understandably. But for me, it really hurts badly because that’s not the way you get put out of the cup.
“We have no other choice. I’ll speak to the staff. We need to analyse our performance, what we’re doing well and what we’re not doing well. We’ll look at the performances today and who we think. We’ll also look at injuries and stuff like that. People need to step up and they need to perform in those games. There’s no hiding place. The bottom line is you either show character and you turn up and you go and you perform. You’re a top player or you’re not.”
Full time: 1-2
Johnstone Burgh goal: Lafferty 89′
Dundee North End goals: Linn 49′, O’Neill OG 87′
Next up for Johnstone Burgh is Drumchapel United under the lights at Keanie Park in the WoSFL Premier Division on Wednesday, 25th March. Kick-off is at 7:30pm.
Photo: Kyle Lafferty rises for a header from 12 yards, but his effort is comfortably saved by Dundee North End goalkeeper Ross Matthews with 15 minutes remaining