Eastfield through to Scottish quarter-finals

Eastfield Amateurs progressed to the Quarter Final of the Fosters Scottish Amateur Cup on Saturday with a superb 2-0 victory over Oban Saints.

The Cumbernauld outfit went into the game confident after a healthy run of winning games that has also seen them progress to the last 16 of the West of Scotland Cup.

Unfortunately, they were still suffering from not having a full team to pick from with five of their squad missing due to injuries and work commitments.

The visitors started the game brightly and needed to as Oban Saints have not lost a game at home all season.

Eastfield’s first chance came through Danny O’Neill, but his effort was turned away by the Oban goalkeeper.

It was only a few minutes later that Eastfield had the ball in the net.

Saints failed to clear a ball from their goalmouth and David Kilcar pounced to lob the ball over the advancing keeper.

Eastfield continued to dominate the game for the next 20 minutes and created a few chances from set pieces with Graham Elliott and Andy Rennie both coming close, but the score remained at 1-0 at the interval.

The opening 25 minutes of the second half were battled out in midfield with MacKechnie and Shields breaking up Oban’s attack supported by McJimpsey, Riley and Taylor.

The five-man midfield was working well for Eastfield and it was McJimpsey who came closest to extending the lead with a free-kick that was well saved by the Saints goalkeeper.

At the other end, Brendan Shaw in the Eastfield goal was having a strong game and did well to keep out a shot low to his left.

As the legs began to tire for Eastfield, a change was made in both personnel and formation.

McHaffie pushed into midfield and McJimpsey up front combined to put Eastfield 2-0 up and the game to bed.

McJimpsey played a beautiful 35 yard pass to McHaffie, who with the keeper in no man’s land, took a touch round him and placed the ball into the empty net.

The remaining five minutes were played out with very little fuss, with the exception of a small fracas in the midfield which the referee handled very well.

The final whistle blew and the celebrations started.

A man of the Match could not be picked due to everyone’s fantastic efforts and the long bus journey home was made all the sweeter with such a crucial victory.

Eastfield will now play Carluke Baptist church in the quarter-final of the cup on the March 22.

This is an away tie and the venue of the fixture is still to be confirmed.

Details will be posted on the club website, Facebook page and twitter account.

It is hoped that all local supporters will make the journey to Carluke to support their local team

Eastfield: Shaw, Taylor, McHaffie, Rennie, Elliott, Shields, O’Neill, MacKechnie, Kilcar, McJimpsey, Riley. Subs: Inglis, Morrison, Logan, Banks.