Port Glasgow book their place in Challenge Cup third round

The Undertakers had just about enough to see off Fourth Division rivals West Park United 4-3 at Parklea – as thoughts now turn to what Jamieson says will be their toughest test of the season so far, a Strathclyde Demolition Cup quarter-final against Maryhill.

The home side started stronger, and a foul on Curtis Woods led to Dylan McLaughlin seeing his free kick deflected out for a corner, with Alex McWatters’ set-piece finding Woods for a great strike which was well saved by Taylor in the West Park goal.

Port kept up the pressure and were soon rewarded with the opening goal when McWatters robbed the ball off the West Park defence at the edge of the box and slipped in McLaughlin, who tapped into the net for the opening goal after 10 minutes.

But the hosts were then sucker punched two minutes later when a deflected shot sailed over Sam Murdoch to bring the game level.

This was a wake-up call for the Port and a lovely reverse pass by Ross Kearns found Woods, whose cross-field pass found McLaughlin; his first-time cross was met by the head of McWatters to put the Port back in front after 19 minutes.

READ MORE: Port boss Jamieson urges squad to take the game to West Park in cup clash

Port battered the West Park goal but clear-cut chances by Hayden McGivern and Stuart Cameron were not taken; however, the pressure paid off when Ronnie Wilson fired a pass up to McWatters, whose delicate flick put McLaughlin in on goal with Taylor to beat.

He cut the ball back to the incoming Stuart Cameron to slot home after 44 minutes.

But straight after kick-off Port switched off, and Millar was put through on goal with only Murdoch to beat, but a brilliant save kept the Port’s two-goal lead going into the break.

Port tried to kill the game off three minutes into the second half when Woods sent McWatters through on goal, but his shot was well wide.

This seemed to give West Park some confidence and they went close to reducing the arrears when Jayden McGivern’s cleared header fell to Reid at the edge of the box, but his volley flew inches past Port’s goal.

Reid broke through Port’s defence again on 56 minutes with only Murdoch to beat, but again the on-loan Morton youngster kept another certain goal out.

Port Glasgow saw off West Park United 4-3 at Parklea to book their place in round three of the South of Scotland Challenge Cup. (Image: alex craig)

That had West Park believing they could get back into the game and a dangerous ball forward was not cleared by Wilson; Reid latched onto the loose ball, but Murdoch rushed out 25 yards to tackle and clear the danger.

A careless tackle by Ben McDowall resulted in a penalty to West Park in the 75th minute which Millar slotted home to make it 3-2.

That should have been game on for West Park but they could only have a Findlay effort from distance in the last five minutes of the match.

In the 88th minute some beautiful link up play between Stuart Cameron and McLaughlin put Kenny Mearns through, and he rifled his shot past Taylor to make it 4-2.

That should have been that, but careless defending in the sixth minute of added time allowed Reid to nip in, steal the ball and tap in to complete the scoring.

READ MORE: Port Glasgow manager backs on-loan Morton keeper to make a big impact

Jamieson said: “We were far from our best today but we got the job done.

“We will move onto the quarter final next week against Maryhill, which will be our biggest test of the season.”

Team: Sam Murdoch, Gary Pettigrew, Hayden McGivern, Ronnie Wilson, John Mitchell, Curtis Woods, Chris Millar, Ross Kearns, Alex McWatters, Dylan McLaughlin, Stuart Cameron.

Subs used: Ben McDowall, Euan Campbell, Mark Millar, Kenny Mearns, Mitchell Duffy.

Port Glasgow’s sponsors are Dragon Soup, Coop Funeralcare, The Caledonian Bar, Autotec, Dunns Mot Centre, Clydeview Motors and Dare 2 Create.