Spartans put on a five-star show to reach fourth round with ease

Iain Cartwright curled in an exquisite left-footed effort high into the top corner from 18 yards to give Spartans the lead before Garth Fitzsimons was in the right position to flick the ball into the net to put the home side 2-0 up.

Nick Reid made it three in the second half and Davie Campbell then put his name on the scoresheet when he finished off a fine fourth.

Reid then grabbed his second of the match with 15 minutes remaining with a well-placed header to make it 5-0.

Dunedin did add a late consolation through Paul Munro’s strike.

Spartans coach Andrew Enwood was pleased with the performance of his players, who made short work of their opponents.

Enwood said: “We didn’t really allow them (Dunedin) to play much and we’ve been working on things like pressing the ball recently. We were very quick on the counter-attack when we were in possession and played well. You need to be consistent in cup competitions, so if we get a bit of luck along the way then maybe we can go further.”

Danderhall on cloud nine

Danderhall MW stretched their lead at the top of Lothian East to eight points after a thumping 9-1 victory over Scottish Widows at Kirkbrae. The home side romped into a 3-0 lead within the opening ten minutes and never looked back as they continued to rack up the goals as Widows were well beaten.

Darren Anderson opened the scoring before Grant McMillan fired in a quick double to make it 3-0. Captain Cammy Wallace then made it 4-0 before the same player struck his second when he added a fifth.

McMillan then completed his hat-trick just before half-time to make it six in a completely one-sided opening 45.

Wallace capped his hat-trick from the penalty spot to make it seven before McMillan rounded off a great individual performance with his fourth and Danderhall’s eighth.

Graeme Cole completed Danderhall’s tally to make it 9-0, but Colin Lawson did find a consolation late on for Widows.

Danderhall MW’s Alan Shepherd said: “We clicked and away we went and we’re happy we managed to get everyone on. We’re pleased with the way things are going in the league but we don’t seem to be doing well in cup ties for some reason.”

Scottish Widows secretary Jim McNulty says his players need to forget this result and move on.

McNulty said: “We needed to chase the game after going down early and it maybe could’ve been more to be fair. We had a lot of possession but never caused them any problems. They had two guys up front who were very quick and moved the ball about well.”

Cup cheer for Lauriston

Lauriston Thistle are through to the fourth round of the Centenary Cup after a narrow 2-1 victory over Silverknowes Vale at Wardie.

The Lothian West side have struggled for form so far this season but edged out a Vale outfit who have displayed some fine performances to date.

Thistle’s Mark Dolphin was honest enough to admit the result could have gone either way but was thrilled it was his own set of players who were celebrating at full-time.

He said: “I think a draw would have been a fair result but we’re delighted to get through to the next round. Both teams played some lovely football and it was a good game to watch.”

Thistle took the lead after ten minutes when Michael Troy’s free-kick from 25 yards appeared to deceive the Vale goalkeeper as the ball flew into the back of the net.

Vale equalised in the second half when Gavin Burrell finished off a fine attacking move to level the tie at 1-1, but with ten minutes remaining, Darren Nicol showed great skill to grab the winner when he knocked in from close range to put Thistle through.

Vale’s Dennis Henderson said: “It was a scrappy affair to be honest. Both teams could have won but we had a lot of chances and missed three or four one-on-ones.”