Amateurs: Danderhall Miners dig deep to win semi-final spot

There was very little to separate the two teams in the opening half an hour but, just as it looked like the opening period would finish goalless, Alba struck. A corner from the left wasn’t cleared by Danderhall and Stuart Ritchie whipped the ball in from close range.

Danderhall reverted to a 3-5-2 formation and it swiftly paid off. Mark Brown latched on to the ball down the left and he skipped past his marker to finish in the bottom-left corner.

The momentum was with Danderhall and they added another goal ten minutes later. James Laing’s ball from deep found Brown in the box and, although his shot was saved by keeper Gary Dalgleish, Grant Aitchison followed up to smash in from just outside the box.

Alba began to show determination on the ball once again and, after coming close to an equaliser, they were sure they were due a penalty when Richard Todd appeared to handle the ball on the line. The referee waved the protests away, however, and Danderhall went up the other end to secure the win as Darren Anderson slotted in one-on-one with the keeper.

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Tollcross in title hunt

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Tollcross Thistle maintained their LEAFA Premiership title hunt as they held off a stubborn Sandys side to win 3-1 at Saughton 3G.

After an uneventful first half, a Kyle Hay corner picked out debutant Jay Hunter in the box and he headed the ball on for Chris Reid to nod in at the back post. Thistle were in the ascendency and another goal followed just five minutes later. Sean Mossman created space out wide before teeing up Reid to finish from close range.

Sandys had chances of their own in the second half and, with 20 minutes to go, Tam Crease got his side back in to the game as he turned a low ball into the box home at the back post. Crease then could have brought his side level five minutes later but keeper John Nisbet twice denied the striker in quick succession to keep the scores unchanged.

Building on that, Thistle added another to secure a precious three points. Iliya Stoev beat his man down the left and he set up Chris Taylor to score on his first start for the club.

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Oceana cruise into semis

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FC Oceana stormed into the quarter-finals of the Logan Cup as Ross Davies bagged four against Redhall Star at the Jack Kane Centre.

By the 15th minute, Oceana were well on top and had two goals to show for their efforts. First, Jed Grant produced a pinpoint through pass for Davies to race behind the Star defence and slot in. Then, two minutes later, Liam Tomassi carved out another opportunity for Oceana down the left and he played in Davies, who again showed composure one-on-one to score.

It was one-way traffic but Star eventually replied just before half-time. Greg Weir was fouled in the Oceana box and he dusted himself down to fire in the resultant penalty.

Although Oceana were on top, Star looked to threaten after the break, meaning the hosts had to be at their best defensively. They held firm to deny their opponents and added a third midway through the half when Davies smashed in his hat-trick from a tight angle.

The game was Oceana’s now to lose and, although Star pulled another back through Ross Weir, Davies found his fourth of the game to seal the victory.

They go on to face Edinburgh South Vics in the last eight of the competition.