Match: Largs Thistle v Lochee United
Date: 02/12/2023
Venue: Barrfields Stadium, Largs
Competition: Scottish Junior Cup, 4th Round
Entry Fee: £9
Travel: £6.30
Miles completed today: 56
Total miles remaining: 29748
Scotland in the winter is absolutely brutal. I’ve never had an opinion on the summer football debate but in early December we’ve had all but 4 non league games in Scotland postponed… FOUR! It wasn’t my plan to head to Largs, but I’m glad I did.
The four games that survived couldn’t be further away from each other; Orkney, Aberdeen, Perth and Largs! I had planned to just stay in the house after all my ideas got cancelled, but after seeing this was still on I made a last minute decision to jump on the train.
As a town, Largs is a fantastic place to visit. Good views, food and a beach – ideal. Today I’d be going nowhere near the beach, it’s freezing and wet, but I’m just happy there’s a game to go and watch.
Fun Fact: Gordon McQueen played for Largs Thistle, and they currently have 39 year old Darryl Duffy upfront, mind him?
Preview
McBookie don’t have odds on the Junior Cup this time, but I think Lochee United were very very slight favourites. They’ve lost only once this season and that was to high flying Broxburn.
Largs are a ‘sticky’ team in my opinion. They go completely under the radar but continue to pick up results.
Largs did defeat Gartcairn in the last round away from home, I’m really torn here. Let’s just hope it’s an exciting game…
The Story so Far…
R1
Largs Thistle 5-0 Lugar Boswell Thistle
Lochee United: Bye
R2
Ashfield 1-3 Largs Thistle
Lochee United 3-2 Maybole
R3
Gartcairn 2-3 Largs Thistle
Culter 0-2 Lochee United
Largs have been to the final on 3 occasions and looking at the field, there’s no reason either winner here couldn’t go all the way. They’ve won the cup once in 1994, and lost in the final as recently as 2019.
The Ground
As I only decided to go to Largs 3 hours before kick off, I hadn’t done my usual due diligence on the club and had no idea what to expect ground wise. All I knew is that in groundhopping circles, it’s not one that’s really mentioned.
PEOPLE ARE MISSING OUT! This is a fantastic arena to watch football. As you approach the gate you notice that the pitch is dug into the ground with oval terracing all around it. It’s the same shape as Hampden park minus the huge terraces.
The pitch is all astro and there’s a lot of space behind the goals. I imagine it would’ve cost a bomb to install an astro this size, but also heard that EuroMillions winner Colin Weir actually gifted it to the club.
Largs have played here since 1928 and the covered stand itself can’t be too much younger. It’s seen better days, but imagine the stories it could tell! This is a hidden gem of a ground and I can’t believe it’s not spoken about more.
And to top it all off, a reasonably prices steak pie that I’d easily give an 8.5/10 minimum. Very impressed by it all.
The Game
To sum this one up, a highly competitive game where neither keeper were particularly busy but with a huge momentum shift in the middle.
Despite neither team being allowed to dominate, Largs were sitting pretty with a 2-0 lead at half time.
David Ramsay opened the scoring after he anticipated the Lochee United defence not intercepting an attempted pass. I think the defence have to do better but it’s a great touch by Ramsay with little reaction time and he’s poked the ball past the keeper into the opposite corner from close range.
Lochee United would only really have one chance in the first half but it was a huge one. They found some space on the break and Cavanagh found Hay with a lobbed square pass but his effort was deflected on to the post and wide.
The post would further frustrate the visitors as Will Sewell would hit one from the edge of the box with power and accuracy which would hit the inside of the post and nestle into the net for 2-0. There wasn’t much between the sides, but Largs were 2 to the good. As the game progressed, it became feistier and players were at each others throats in any given opportunity. Even as both teams walked off the pitch at the end of the first half they were arguing with the other side.
The second half carried the same script as the first and was fairly balanced until Lochee United got one back. A Bobby Linn free kick was met by the head of Scobie and the ball bounced into the bottom corner, game on!
Ryan McCreath was sent off for the home side for persistent fouling. No problem with the decision, it was his third foul AFTER his first yellow.
From here, it was one way traffic and almost inevitable Lochee United would get a second… and they did.
Another Linn free kick, this time powered at the keeper who spilled the ball momentarily but long enough for a United player to slide the ball home in the dying minutes. Amongst the chaos, I still have no idea who got the final touch.
Largs Thistle almost nicked it with the very last kick of the ball as Lewis Davidson cracked a long range volley off the bar but the ref blew the whistle immediately after and the game would be decided by penalties.
This is where you have to credit Easton in the Lochee United goal. Two magnificent saves from Largs first 2 penalties meant a United win was almost inevitable and Sewell put the 3rd penalty wide which flew narrowly past the post.
United took the victory in a classic cup tie. Sore one for Largs but that’s football!
Full time: Largs Thistle 2-2 Lochee United (0-3 on penalties).
Summary
Even if there had been a full card of football this weekend I can confidently say that this would still be one of the most entertaining games in the country. 4 goals, a red card, comeback and a penalty shootout all for £9.
The setup at Largs is one of the best for the level. A perfect mixture of old and new the complete terracing all the way around the ground is a particular treat.
As for the game, it’s a real sore one for the home side as they were 2 up and surely thought it was their day but I’m sure they’d join me in congratulating Lochee United for a spirited comeback and brought a large following on the day.
The Junior Cup is magic, but please find a way to incorporate every tier 6-10 league!
As for Largs, I got way more than I bargained for and I’ll be back.
GroundhopScot 