Report

Match Report by Murray
Talbot’s senior cup adventure ended with a whimper as an out of sorts Bot side fell 2-0 to Cumbernauld Colts at Broadwood stadium.
There was an unfamiliar look to Talbot’s central defence with regulars McGoldrick & Campbell missing with White & Lyle stepping in to fill the breech.
It was the home side who offered the 1st threat when O’Neill burst past Latta and whipped a dangerous ball across the face of goal. Black met it beyond the far post but the ball hit him rather him hitting it and broke behind for a goal kick.
The 1st effort at goal came in the 7th minute. Broadfoot switched play out right to Duncan whose low cross was cleared by Lyle. It came out to Munn 25 yards from goal and he fired a shot well over the bar.
A minute later Talbot wasted a promising opportunity to take the lead. S Wilson beat Kirwan before squaring the ball across the box to Milliken 8 yards out. The shot looked on but he opted to pass it instead and the ball came back out to S Wilson who knocked it to the back post where Young saw his shot deflected behind.
The linesman turned a blind eye to a blatant handball in the 14th minute when Kirwan controlled it on his arm right in front of him but the officials waved play on.
The Bot fans were up in arms again four minutes later when they thought G Wilson had won a free kick just outside the box when sent sprawling by Duncan, only for the referee to book him for simulation & award the free kick to Colts.
Gradually Talbot began to push Colts back but were failing to make any clear cut chances and when one finally did arrive in the 28th minute it was wasted. Boyd slid a good pass out to Latta whose cut back found Milliken in space inside the area but he completely mis-kicked it.
Neither side had looked like scoring, at least until the 33rd minute when Young found S Wilson out on the right edge of the area and his low drive back across goal flew inches wide of the far post.
The referee had his work cut out in a spell of ill-discipline from the home side that saw them pick up 3 bookings in as many minutes. Broadfoot was 1st in the book for a heated reaction after Boyd had conceded a free kick and he was soon joined in the book by Munn and then Ballantyne, both for cynical fouls on G Wilson.
Talbot tested the Colts defence in the 39th minute when Pope played it into the feet of Hyslop on the left of the area. He attempted to drill it across the 6-yard box but his pass was cut out.
The Bot finished the half strongly but tellingly with no end product. In the 41st minute Milliken pulled the ball back into the path of S Wilson but he didn’t catch his shot cleanly and it sailed harmlessly into the arms of George. A few minutes later the same player saw his effort from just inside the box blocked by Kirwan and the sides went in locked at the interval.
The large travelling support were hoping for Talbot to step up a gear in the 2nd half but it was the home side who came out fired up. Two minutes into the half and the Bot defence was stretched when Ballantyne found space on the right & fired a dangerous cross over to the back post where Latta glanced it behind for a corner. Nothing came of the corner as Leishman was fouled when trying to claim it.
His opposite number didn’t cover himself in glory a minute later. Young fed the ball back to Pope who slung a high, hopeful cross into the goal mouth which George flapped at. The ball landed between the keeper & Oliver with neither taking responsibility for clearing it but with no Bot player to take advantage, Oliver recovered to hook the ball clear.
The game was becoming stretched with play moving from end to end and Talbot won a free kick in a decent area in the 53rd minute when G Wilson’s charge down the right flank was halted by Kirwan. Young flighted a decent ball across the 6 yard line where a Colts defender headed it out for a shy.
S Wilson failed to make the most of a half chance in the 55th minute. Ward headed out Pope’s cross but it came straight out to Wilson 16 yards out, however he delayed his shot and was closed down before he could hit it.
Colts made the 1st change on 57 minutes with Tilley coming on in place of Black.
Leishman had to produce a top drawer save to keep Talbot level on the hour mark. A Colts corner from the right was cleared but only as far as Broadfoot who jinked in off the right and fired a shot for the far post that Leishman tipped wide at full stretch.
Down the other end S Wilson tested George in the 61st minute when he rifled a low right foot shot on target that George saved in an unconventional manner; blocking it with his body as he fell to his left.
The 1st goal was going to be crucial and it came Colts way in the 64th minute. The Bot defence were caught flat at a ball down the right wing. Leishman opted to come out his box to clear but was never getting there and BROADFOOT was able to clip the ball past him from a tight angle into the empty net.
Talbot now made a substitution with Shankland on for Milliken.
O’Neill managed to get himself involved in a stramash with the Talbot bench in the 68th minute but it was a handbags at dawn affair and nothing came of it.
Talbot had a chance to test George in the 70th minute when they were awarded a free kick 25 yards out. Shankland took it and curled it up & over the wall but whilst it had the accuracy it lacked the power to beat George who got across to his right to make the save.
A minute later Shankland had another opportunity. G Wilson laid the ball inside to him and he ran onto it at the edge of the box but fired his shot wide of the right post.
This was Talbot’s best spell of the match and they had a third chance in quick succession. Pope flighted a cross to the back post where S Wilson cushioned a header back across goal where his brother G Wilson met it but lifted his header over the bar.
It was now Colts turn to threaten and they had Talbot on the rack with a spell of pressure. Leishman did well to cut out Broadfoot’s ball across the face of goal after Broadfoot had got the better of Pope.
Colts then forced a succession of corners from the last of which Kirwan met it on the half volley at the back post and his shot flicked off Latta and just over the bar. When the next corner came in Talbot only partially cleared it allowing Tilley a shot at goal which Leishman blocked away.
Tucker now made a 2nd switch with holding midfielder Boyd making way for Love.
Love was involved soon after coming on when he ran onto a ball in behind Kirwan and passed it across to G Wilson in space just inside the box. He looked set to hit it but to the frustration of the Bot support he opted to back heel it to tee it up for Shankland and the move fizzled out.
Talbot’s last chance to salvage a draw came in the 86th minute. Love beat Kirwan and raced into the box and tried to fire it across the face of goal. It was blocked and came straight back to him on the right of the penalty area but he didn’t connect properly with his shot and it went tamely at George.
It was game over in the 88th minute as Colts doubled their advantage. O’Neill was allowed to carry the ball forward unchallenged before releasing it out right to find Broadfoot in space inside the area. He had the time and space to square it across goal for MUNN to bundle it home from close range and make it 2-0.
Colts now substituted the goal scorer with Munn making way for Grant.
No two ways about it, this was a very disappointing performance from Talbot who just never got going. There is no time to brood on it though as Tucker will have to lift the team for next Saturday’s trip to Tranent in the Scottish Junior Cup.

Cumbernauld – George, Duncan, Kirwan, Oliver, Ward, Broadfoot, Ballantyne, Munn, Selkirk, Black, O’Neill

Subs – Benton, Giles, Brown, Grant, Tilley

Talbot – Leishman, Latta, Lyle, Pope, White, Boyd, Young, Hyslop, Milliken, G Wilson, S Wilson

Subs – Shankland, Love, Cochrane, Gillies, Campbell, Johnstone