AUCHINLECK Talbot boss Tommy Sloan has urged his side to take confidence after halting a two-game losing run.
The Beechwood Park outfit earned progress in the Scottish Junior Cup on Saturday with a comfortable 3-1 win at home to Benburb.
The holders earned their place in the fourth round thanks to a second-half flurry which put the tie to bed.
After a goalless opening period, three goals in less than two minutes after the restart killed the match.
Marc Capaldi was the first to strike, on the 50-minute mark, before the floodgates opened and Ewan Thomson added a second and Lewis Latona struck a third.
The visitors were handed brief hope when Jamie Menzies struck with 20 minutes left to play but his effort was in vain as Talbot secured progress.
“I’m delighted," Sloan said. "It’s good to get through, I thought we did fine, we created plenty of opportunities.
“It was 0-0 at half-time, even though we had a good five or six chances to score but didn’t quite get there.
“I was pleased, we then got three quick goals in the second half and that killed the game.
“I thought we limited them to not a lot, that was the pleasing thing.
“The first goal is always important, we got a bit of confidence out of that and you saw that. For 10 minutes after that we were really bright.”
Sloan hopes his side can ride that momentum as they prepare to travel to Beith on Saturday (October 24) in the Lowland League West.
He added: “Beith will be a tough one for us, it’s always tough going there, but we’re looking forward to it now.
“Hopefully we get a bit of confidence out of the victory at the weekend, but we’ll just keep taking it one at a time.
“It’s just about getting the three points, it won’t be an easy task, then we can look on from there.”
Sloan will be without Kyle McAvoy for the fixture, after the attacker suffered a broken collarbone in Saturday's tie.
The club confirmed that McAvoy underwent surgery following the injury and will be out of action "for the foreseeable future".
Share