Cumnock Juniors beat Auchinleck Talbot on penalties

Nock secured their place in the last eight of the competition – and a quarter-final tie away to Hurlford in February – with a 4-3 win on penalties after a cagey goalless draw against their biggest rivals at Townhead Park on Saturday.

Keeper Jamie Barclay was the home side’s hero, pulling off a fine save late in the regulation 90 minutes before keeping out Gareth Armstrong’s spot-kick in the shoot-out – then watching as Michael Wardrope skied Talbot’s last penalty over the bar to send the holders tumbling out of the tournament.

But Nock have no time to rest on their laurels as it’s back to league business tonight (Wednesday), when Glenafton make the short journey to Townhead Park (KO 8pm) – with Ryan Stevenson’s men on a Junior Cup high of their own after booking their quarter-final slot with victory away to Carnoustie Panmure on Saturday.

“For the club, for the supporters, for the town, for the guys that work so hard behind the scenes, it’s a great day,” McGinty told Cumnock’s own social media team immediately after Saturday’s game. “But that’s all it is.

“We want to be competing with the Talbots, the Darvels, the Polloks, the Hurlfords, that have won things. We’ve got the Glens on Wednesday night – they’ve got a recent history of winning things. Cumnock haven’t.

“To be talked about in that sense, we need to get into the later stages of cups, being at the top end of the league, and until we do that we’re still working away, still trying to get on a par with these teams.

“I don’t want them to keep a lid on it tonight – it’s been a long time since a result like that in a cup like this – but then we need to focus on Wednesday, because for us that’s as big a game.

“We’ve dropped a couple of places today so it’s important we go and try and get a win on Wednesday and be up at the top end of the league.”

To watch the full interview and highlights from Saturday’s tie search for ‘Cumnock Juniors’ on YouTube.