Six goals, three penalties and four players and a manager sent off.
It’s fair to say Meadow Park was the place to be on Saturday as Threave Rovers defeated Thorniewood United in a feisty West of Scotland League Cup clash.
Threave boss Vinnie Parker said: “I knew it would be a cracking game! There was a decent crowd. We’re starting to see an upturn in gates and it was great value for money.
“It sounds strange but I would probably have preferred it to be 11 v 11.
“We were on top, they couldn’t live with us in the first 10 or 15 minutes and they absolutely lost their discipline. We were getting in behind them and creating loads of chances, it was a really good performance.”
Fourth division Threave were looking to test themselves against first division Thorniewood but the visitors opened the scoring through Alan Campbell.
However, the Castle Douglas side were soon level through Tam Coles before Dean Brotherston put them in front with some help from the bar.
The forward had the chance to extend Threave’s lead when he was brought down in the box but his penalty was saved.
He was then grounded again in the aftermath and won his side another penalty – only for he and Thorniewood’s Adam Watt to be sent off in the ensuing mayhem.
After that was sorted, Danny Dunglinson converted the penalty to put Threave 3-1 up at the interval.
Thorniewood had a second player sent off after the break when Declan Brown was shown a straight red after an incident with Liam Douglas but gave themselves some hope when Ally Small scored late on.
However, Threave were then awarded their third penalty of the game after Connor Potts was brought down by David O’Donnell who also saw red along with manager Jamie Nesbitt, Dunglinson once again doing the honours to seal Threave’s progress.
Parker said: “I thought the referee had a good game – he got the decisions correct and you couldn’t argue with the sending offs.
“I thought Dean was unlucky. He got a yellow card in the first 10 minutes with a bit of a lunge from behind.
“We’re asking for them to defend from the front and he’s been a bit over eager.
“The second one he’s won a penalty, he’s missed it, then the boy has stuck the head on him. You’ve a right to look after yourself, he grabbed the boy they went to ground and he got a yellow card.
“It’s Dean in a nutshell – he played 40 minutes, scores a goal, wins two penalties and gets two yellow cards. He always plays on the edge. You don’t want to take too much away from him as you lose that spark.
“It means he misses the next round at Renfrew and it’s disappointing after him being out so long with an injury.
“One of their boys was sent off for sticking the head on Dean, there was an off the ball incident when Liam Douglas was elbowed in the face right in the middle of the park, everyone saw it and that boy can’t have any complaints.
“The third red card was another penalty and a lot of mouthing towards the ref.
“Their manager was doing that as well and you can’t get away with that.”
Threave return to league business on Saturday with a crucial game at West Park United.
West Park are second in the fourth division, three points ahead of Threave and three points behind leaders Kilsyth Rangers.
Parker said: “I had a good look at the league table and it’s ridiculously tight. It’s a massive game away from home, it’s a must win.
“We really need to be going up there looking to get all three points.”
