THREE first half goals helped Ladeside cement their place in the last 16 of the Junior game’s top knockout event.

Blasties were the dominant side in the first half, going into the interval 3-1 up.

But Kilsyth had the upper hand after the break and were unlucky not to put some chances away.

The match opened up in 10 minutes when a through ball received by home striker Richie Barr saw the player take the ball past Kilsyth keeper Duke, on the right hand side of goal and then tap it into the net.

Kilsyth levelled in 24 minutes when Barclay was left one-on-one with the keeper on the right hand side of goal where he shot towards Chris Fahey and the keeper got his hands to the ball but it still managed to deflect off him and land in the top left hand side of the net.

The hosts restored their advantage eight minutes later when Chris Wilson sent a 25-yard free-kick into the bottom left hand corner.

Ladeside extended their lead right on the interval when a cross from Ryan Borris on the right was headed past Duke by Chris Craig.

Co-bosses Stephen Swift and Mark Crilly introduced new signings, Sam McCloskey and Adam Forde, who are both on loan from Stranraer after the break.

Forde replaced Barr in 62 minutes and McCloskey came on for Wilson in 68 minutes.

Ladeside’s final substitution saw Graham Boyd come on for Craig and he made an instant impact. A through ball picked up by Boyd on the left hand saw the striker pass the ball through the legs of the Kilsyth defender. It arrived at the feet of Borris in the centre of the penalty box and the former Ayr United man fired the ball into the bottom left in 75 minutes.

Despite continued pressure and great saves from Fahey, Kilsyth only managed to get their second and last goal of the game in the 89th minute. Barclay took the ball past Fahey on the left hand side to then tap the ball into the goal. However, despite their dominance, Kilsyth Rangers were unable to level and Ladeside made it through.

Kilbirnie co-manager Swift said afterwards: “The main objective was to get through to the next round but we’re definitely not pleased with the performance. We’re miles better than that. We’re still leaking goals, still making mistakes, still no closing out games. There’s a massive improvement we need.” Of new signing Adam Forde Swift said: “We’ve got high hopes for him. For him to come on his first day and progress the way he did throughout the game, we’re delighted with that.” Forde added “To be fair, we weren’t really happy with our performance. We could have done better in the game but it’s the Scottish Cup, it’s all about the result and not really the performance.” KILBIRNIE LADESIDE: Fahey; McLean Wilson, McAnespie, Gibson, McGuinness, Borris, Meechan, Barr, Craig, Malone. Subs: Kelly, Boyd, Gair, Forde, McCloskey.

KILSYTH RANGERS: Duke; Waters, McVey. Doyle. Heffron. McPeake. Dolan, Livingstone. Barclay, P McBride. Prentice. Subs: Hughes, K McBride, Hogg.