Amateurs: Tollcross rue missed chances in Scottish Cup

Tollcross Thistles Scottish Cup dream came to an end as they failed to take their chances against Letham

Tollcross began the game looking the stronger of the two sides and could well have been ahead before the break, but Stefan Hay and forward Jason Bell both saw chances from close range finish wide of the mark.

Letham then turned the tables and took the initiative. A diagonal ball from the left was aimed at the back post and Dale Smart stabbed the ball home for 1-0.

Tollcross needed to respond, but they found themselves 2-0 down just five minutes later. Letham’s Jamie Ayton was quick to react to a hopeful ball into the box to steer the ball into the Tollcross goal.

As the second half got under way, Tollcross still looked dangerous but they couldn’t find an all important goal. Up the other end, Letham showed clinical finishing to put themselves further ahead with two quick-fire strikes. Billy Carle hammered home at the back post before Mark Donaldson put the tie out of sight. It was job done for Letham as Tollcross could only rue missed opportunities.

• Waverley Athletic loving McDonald Cup

Waverley ATHLETIC made light work of their McDonald Cup quarter-final tie as they comfortably defeated Musselburgh Windsor 5-0 at Dalkeith Campus.

Guy Cairnie got Waverley off to the perfect start as he struck a first-time shot in the box straight into the Windsor goal.

The strike only helped to further lift Waverley’s confidence and it wasn’t long before they doubled their advantage with Windsor struggling as Blair McDonald showed clinical finishing in the box to steer his side two up with a carbon-copy of the opening goal.

It then got even better before the break with Waverley comfortably in the ascendency. Craig Robertson got up well to send a thumping header into the opposition goal.

Windsor hadn’t been in the game and it was a similar story in the second half with Waverley dominating in all areas. Kevin Moffat beat the offside trap to add a fourth before scoring again midway through the half with a tidy finish from close range. As the half progressed, Waverley could have further rubbed salt into Windsor wounds, but they settled at 5-0 in what had been a very one-sided cup tie.

• Sandys line up Craigshill clash

Sandys set up a mouth-watering Scottish Cup sixth-round tie with Craigshill Thistle as they defeated Grangemouth Rovers 2-1 at Castleview.

The first meeting between the two sides was a tight affair that ended 1-1, meaning a replay was required to decide who would progress to the next round.

There were few chances in the opening 30 minutes, with the ball mainly bogged down in midfield, but with the first-half almost up it was Sandys who came closest to breaking the deadlock when James Reilly’s driven strike was saved by Rovers keeper Jason Buchanan.

Sandys came out of the traps flying in the second half and they wasted little time getting their noses in front when Gordon Ramsay slid a square pass across the box for Bob  McKenzie to stick away for 1-0.

Then, with the momentum in their favour, Sandys added another to firm up their advantage. Reilly was wiped out in the Rovers box and, although Kevin McNulty hit the bar with his penalty, Steven Philp was in the right place to tuck away the rebound.

Sandys were in control and although they conceded a Mark Humphrey goal late on, they progressed to the next round.