RELIEVED Ardrossan Winton Rovers boss Chris Strain Snr hopes Saturday’s Scottish Junior Cup success can help spark a revival in their league form.

Winton defeated top East Coast side Whitburn 2-1 at home in a closely contested First Round tie, skipper Ryan Caddis sealing a memorable victory with literally the last kick of the ball.

New signing Ian Reid, a former Queen of the South defender was also on target as Winton reversed a three-match losing streak in the Super First Division.

Strain was encouraged with the display and told Sportscene: “Although we scored two late goals, we had a lot of the play and created a few chances against a team who have a good reputation in the East. Hopefully we will get a home draw in the second round. We scored a couple of good goals and it was great to progress in the Scottish Cup. It’s good to have Ian Reid on board. He has senior experience and can play in defence or upfront. We have also re-signed defender Darren Miller, who played with us previously and I hope to add in another couple of players in the next few weeks.” However the manager admits his side could hardly face a more daunting task on Saturday as they play joint leaders Kilsyth Rangers away from home as they aim to pick up their first points in the league campaign.

Strain told Sportscene: “We can take a lot of positives from Saturday into the cup tie. I felt we had played really well in the Cumnock game and were 3-2 ahead only to concede two late goals. Kilsyth are flying at the moment and beat Kilwinning the other week. But the aim is to go there and give a good account for ourselves. Hopefully we can take something from the game and that would give us a confidence boost.” Kilbirnie Ladeside manager Stephen Swift was also encouraged with his team’s progress in the national competition.

They hammered Fifers Newburgh 6-0 in a one-sided tie, The manager was impressed with his side’s performance and told Sportscene: “It was a really professional job and we could have won much more easily had we taken some of our other chances. I was delighted to keep a clean sheet and to score six goals away from home. All we are looking for now is a home tie.” Ladeside on Saturday turn their attention to the Premier Division as they host Shettleston at home, They lost their last league game at Pollok and Swift is hoping for a reversal of fortunes.

He said: “It was disappointing to lose at Pollok as we created quite a few chances. But the league is proving to be really tight and we are looking to push back into the top half of the table. The target is to take three points at home on Saturday and hopefully we can bounce back from the last league match. The guys are looking forward to it.” Ladeside will be without recent signing Kevin Turner, who has been sidelined for four weeks with medial ligament damage and fellow striker Adam Forde, who has been missing for 10 weeks with the same problem.

Everyone else is available for the game.