THE Scottish weather tried its best to spoil this contest but both sides also tried their best to give the spectators their money’s worth after the game got the go ahead following a morning inspection.

High-flying Hurlford eventually secured the points but Beith were no also-ran’s, battling all the way with a tremendous effort, playing into a gale force wind in the first half.

As expected the Scottish Junior Cup holders saw most of the ball with the assistance of the elements but it took until 10 minutes for Beith keeper Adam Strain to be tested when McKenzie tumbled just outside the box, allowing Robertson to fire in a free-kick which the goalie did well to beat away.

Beith were up for the challenge and David Donnelly put in a great challenge to halt a Danny Mitchell surging run.

The visitors tried to work the ball forward at any opportunity and Darren Christie made a good run and delivered a dangerous cross that was turned behind for a corner.

Play continued to flow mainly towards the visitors’ end and the hosts had the ball in the net but it was rightly ruled out as the last touch came from a player standing in an offside position.

The first moment of controversy arrivedi in 20 minutes when Beith had a good penalty shout waved away when Mitchell appeared to bundle Kenny McLean down in a challenge from behind in the box.

Hurlford continued to have the lion’s share of possession but found clear chances hard to come by as Beith worked hard to protect their goal.

Strain did his job well when called upon, turning a Byrne shot behind and getting down well to an on-target Kean effort.

Despite being up against it for most of the half, Beith had a great chance to take the lead a few minutes before the interval when Darren Christie burst forward and his pace got him one on one with Ford keeper Brown but he couldn’t apply the finish and his tame shot was blocked by the keeper who then scrambled back to collect the ball as it spun agonisingly slowly towards the line.

Christie continued to trouble the home defence after the restart, forcing Brown to make an early save. Hurlford were clearly not going to allow Beith to dominate and pushed up as much as possible to compete strongly in midfield. The wind also noticeably dropped which also helped the home side’s cause.

Darren Christie’s hard work created another good opportunity for Beith but again his finish was not his best and Brown again blocked his effort and Bradley’s follow up. The visitors were then cruelly punished as Hurlford swept upfield to earn a penalty when Robertson went down in the box under pressure from McShane, very similarly to the incident in the first half when Beith’s appeal was turned down. Stewart Kean made no mistake from the spot.

The goal seemed to knock the stuffing out of Beith and Hurlford missed a good opportunity a few minutes later when Beith were caught out with a high ball into the box and Mitchell and Robertson seemed to put each other off with the latter heading over. The visitors battled away but essentially Hurlford had a good grip on proceedings now and they tied up the points with 3 minutes remaining from a free kick into the box. Kean was unlucky not to score with a fine header that hit the post but Paul McKenzie reacted quickly to pounce and slam home the rebound.

With their battle lost Beith then proceeded to lose the plot with their discipline in the remaining few minutes with first Charlie Hobbs being sent from the technical area following a spat with the assistant referee and Joe Bradley following suit a minute later collecting a red card for, one can only assume, saying something less than complimentary to the referee.

HURLFORD UNITED: Brown; Cameron, Byrne, G Mitchell, C Robertson, D Mitchell, McKenzie, Wilson, Kean, R Robertson, Chisholm. Subs: Watt, Millar, McGregor, Brown, Dempster.

BEITH: Strain; McShane, Docherty, Donnelly, McShane, S MacDonald, Bradley, Reid, Christie, McLean, McGowan. Subs: Ryan, Frize, Wilson, Kerr.

For the full story see this week's Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald.