Ardagh Glass League Cup

BEITH JUNIORS 3

KILBIRNIE LADESIDE 3

MONDAY night's rearranged Ardagh derby provided plenty of entertainment but the outcome meant that neither side progressed to the knockout stage.

Beith made no fewer than nine changes to their line up from Saturday and Kilbirnie also had selection constraints to contend with.

The visitors got off to a flyer, taking the lead down the slope after only four minutes when Scullion was allowed room just outside the box and promptly curled a shot past Digney, who looked to be caught cold and will be disappointed not to have made a better attempt to save.

Beith received another blow a minute later when they lost Conor McGlinchey with what turned out to be a dislocated shoulder that will have him on the sidelines for several weeks.

Kilbirnie remained busy and before the makeshift Beith side had settled they hit them again when sub McGill, who had just replaced injured scorer Scullion, headed on for Finlay to shoot past the advancing keeper.

Beith gradually found some fluency but efforts from David McKenna, Paul Frize and Thomas Collins went close but failed to find the net. However Kilbirnie remained dangerous on the break and Digney made good saves to deny first Mitchell and then Finlay goals that probably could have put them out of sight.

The hosts started to string together some good moves as half time approached and they reduced the deficit when David McKenna smartly volleyed home a Bradley cross from 8 yards.

Beith pinned the visitors back in their own half after the restart and an equaliser looked increasingly likely but it was 20 minutes in before they eventually found the net when McKenna converted clinically from the spot after he had been pulled back by Mitchell in the box.

The stage seemed set for Beith to drive on but they were stunned when Ladeside took the lead again courtesy of a blunder by Digney when he came out of his area to clear and hesitated allowing the ball to fired into the box where McGill eventually forced the ball home after Beith missed another opportunity to clear.

The hosts were reduced to 10 men for the last 10 minutes when referee Calum Scott harshly showed Tommy Martin a second yellow card for a pretty innocuous challenge. Beith clearly decided to go for broke though and they levelled with three minutes to go when McKenna bagged his hat-trick, slamming home when a corner was driven back into the box.

There was still time for some further excitement at both ends with John Sheridan clearing a Finlay effort off the goal line and Kilbirnie keeper Kieran Hughes touching a Cunningham shot over.

BEITH: Digney; McGlinchey, Blakey, MacDonald, Sheridan, Martin, Bradley, Cunningham, McKenna, Collins, Burke. Subs: Milliken, R Docherty, Frize, McGowan, Christie.

KILBIRNIE LADESIDEL K Hughes, Halliday, Mitchell, Sweeney, Juskowiak, C Hughes, Lafferty, Anderson, Finlay, Scullion, Williamson. Subs: Crerand, McGill, MacKinnon, Madden, King (gk).