Elgin City manager Gavin Price hopes his players can learn from the experience after digging deep to book their place in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup.
The Black and Whites recovered from the loss of an early goal to take the lead in a tense tie at Hill of Beath Hawthorn on a heavy pitch.
City’s task was made all the more challenging after they played almost the entire second half of their third round tie with 10 men following Angus Mailer’s dismissal.
Price said: “It was a different experience for a lot of these young players but hopefully it will stand them in good stead.
“You need to find a different way to get through cup ties at times and this was a proper old-fashioned cup tie you used to see on the telly in the 1970s and 1980s. I quite enjoyed it to be honest.
“The players were warned. I’ve been here a few times in different situations and you know what to expect. It doesn’t all go your own way and we knew it would be a proper cup-tie.
“It was hard work in the conditions. The pitch was a leveller in terms of what was going on and the players probably haven’t experienced that sort of environment before.”
📽️ @hawshob v @ElginCityFC
Elgin City advance into the fourth round of the Scottish Cup with a 2-1 win over Hill of Beath Hawthorn.#ScottishCup pic.twitter.com/5kmzynKPP3
— Scottish Cup (@ScottishCup) November 27, 2022
The Haws opened the scoring in the eighth minute when Ryan Connelly scrambled the ball over the line.
However, Elgin hit back with a terrific long range effort from Russell Dingwall in the 19th minute before Kane Hester scored from close range on the half hour mark to make it 2-1 to the visitors.
10-man City forced to dig deep in the second half
The game swung back in the home side’s favour six minutes into the second half when Mailer was sent off for hauling Ross Allum to the ground in the box.
But, from the resultant penalty, Haws striker Allum hit the crossbar and Elgin managed to clear the rebound.
Hill of Beath Hawthorn put Elgin under intense pressure as they tried to force an equaliser but the League Two side stood firm to secure victory.
Price said: “Going down to 10 men at the start of the second half put us under pressure and Hill of Beath asked us questions.
“Gus has misjudged the first flight of the ball the ball and then been caught on the wrong side. He reckons it was outside the box but we’ve got no complaints.
“It was a long second half after that and their missed penalty was a vital moment.
“We had to work out socks off to get into the next round. It wasn’t pretty, the conditions dictated that. It was difficult but we defended well towards the end.
“It will go down in the history books as a 2-1 win and it’s a really important win for the club.”
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