31/03/2017  |  Other Cup

Cumbernauld Colts   1  v  2  Spartans

In what was the third meeting between Colts and Spartans this season, today's hosts were looking to continue make it 3 wins from 3 in the this first leg of the challenge cup second round. Despite entering the game with high hopes and an energetic display, the Colts were unlucky and went home and will face a 2-1 deficit going into the reverse fixture in a week's time.

From the first whistle, the Colts began the brightest and played with an intensity that the away team struggled to keep up with. There were some good scoring opportunities early in the game through McAteer and Byrne, however, the score line remained level. It wasn't long though before Colts were in the lead, a well-timed run from Murphy and a clever pass to Connor McKenzie who guided the bell home from inside the box.

However, Colts found it more difficult from here as Spartans enjoyed a long period of possession, and gave the Colts few opportunities to extend their lead. And the build up of pressure from the visitors paid off as they equalised, just before half time, as a midfield runner wasn't matched and finished from close range to make the score level once more.

Half Time 1-0

The second half was similar to the first as the Colts continued to miss some key opportunities, and tensions began to rise on the park resulting in two bookings for the Spartans. The match was increasing in tempo and Colts thought they had restored their lead, after a melee in the box resulted in the ball crossing the line only for the referee to wave play on as the score line remained 1-1. Shortly after this Colts had a free kick from a dangerous area on the edge of the box, as the kick was taken the shot struck a raised arm in the Spartans wall but again the referee looked the other way. With the game reaching the midway point in the half Spartans managed to steal the lead in the 59th minute, despite Kenny Giles at full stretch in efforts to deny the Striker his goal.

The match continued to be played at a high pace and both sides had chances to find the net but one way or another score remained the same. Spartans thought they had increased their lead further but a triple from Giles kept Colts in the game and in the dying minutes Colts had an great chance to level the scores again as the referee pointed to the spot, but the Spartans keeper made an excellent save from the penalty and the match ended 2-1 to the visitors.

Full Time 1-2