ANGRY Beith Juniors skipper John Sheridan hit out at a controversial refereeing decision which all but ended the holders' interest in the Scottish Junior Cup.

Despite home players appealing for offside, Auchinleck Talbot striker Steven Wilson was allowed to keep running and upended inside the box by goalkeeper Stephen Grindlay in the last minute with a penalty awarded and Graham Wilson converting to seal a 1-0 victory in the fourth round tie at Bellsdale Park.

The central defender, in his ninth season with the Garnock Valley club, was disappointed and told Sportscene: "Wilson was three or four yards offside and even the Talbot players thought that. There's no doubt it should have been a penalty - Stephen Grindlay) caught the guy although he cut his mouth. But play should have been stopped and it wouldn't have been awarded. There was no time for us to come back. We didn't play as well as we can but thought we were in for a replay and could have won it."

Now the stopper is hopes his team can put in a challenge for the Premier Division title.

They host derby rivals Kilbirnie Ladeside on Saturday and Sheridan said: "They beat us 3-0 just days after the cup final but we were still celebrating. It's a good game to bounce back for. Our home form has been good - we have only lost once to Morton in the senior Scottish Cup. So we are looking to take three points."

Sheridan, who won the league title in 2010 during boss Johnny Millar's first spell in charge.

He added: "Hopefully we can challenge for the league although we have a lot of games to play."