New Coin Holdings West of Scotland Cup

BEITH 4

KILSYTH RANGERS 2

A STRONG second half saw Beith through to the quarter-finals against a hard-working Kilsyth side who led at the interval.

The hosts started well playing up the Bellsdale slope and Paul Frize volleyed a shot over from a corner. The visitors were also eager to get forward quickly and in their first attack Prentice had a snapshot which went just the wrong side of the post.

Beith didn't heed the warning however and two minutes later a messy clearance fell to Joe Barclay 12 yards out and and he dispatched an angled drive across Stephen Grindlay into the bottom corner.

Johnny Millar's men were stung into action and they didn't take long to level the scores in a 100 miles-an-hour start when Kenny McLean arrived on cue in the box to cleverly turn home a Darren Christie cut back after he tore up the right wing.

End-to-end action continued and the less than convincing Beith defence were punished again when Prentice attacked down the left and crossed for unmarked Paul McBride to shoot past Grindlay to put Kilsyth back in front.

Busy centre Barclay continued to cause Beith problems as Kilsyth kept the tempo up while Beith huffed and puffed without any real fluency and went in for the break a goal behind.

The half-time oranges had an immediate impact for the hosts and they upped the ante from the kick off. Nicky Docherty had a shot blocked before Beith quickly levelled when Paul Frize dispossessed Hughes and sent Darren Christie on his way where he drew the keeper and sent a delicate chip over him into the net.

Beith continued prone to error at the back and they had a narrow escape when Docherty allowed Barclay to slip clear but he couldn't hit the target with Grindlay to beat. At the other end referee Haswell incurred the wrath of the home support when he refused a penalty after keeper Chris Prior seemed to take down Kenny McLean in the box.

The hosts gradually turned the screw and they took the lead just after the hour when in form midfielder Paul Frize picked up possession on the edge of the box, turned and fired in a great low shot which beat Prior at his near post. Beith continued to press and increased their lead a few minutes later when Frize drove forward again and found McLean with his pass for the striker to sweep the ball home.

Chances came and went at both ends in the last quarter with Christie and Burke missing good opportunities for the hosts and Beith surviving an almighty goalmouth scramble as the visitors went for broke. Kilsyth also had to play out the last 14 minutes a man down after Paul McBride collected a second yellow card. The visitors continued to give their all in an entertaining contest and Grindlay had to make a good stop late on to deny Kevin McBride.

Beith will be encouraged by some of their fine play that won the contest when they upped the gears in the second half but with big games to come they cannot afford to be complacent with their often fragile defence.

BEITH: Grindlay; Ryan, Docherty, MacDonald, Sheridan, Martin, Christie, Frize, McLean, McGowan, Burke. Subs: Wilson, Reid, McArthur, Clark, McGregor.

KILSYTH RANGERS: Prior; Waters, K McBride, Hamilton, Hughes, McGhee, Livingstone, O'Neill, Barclay, R McBride, Prentice. Subs: Welsh, Pearson, Nash, Hogg