Allan Hale was left frustrated as Huntly were unable to take the scalp of Stenhousemuir in the second round of the Scottish Cup.
The Breedon Highland League side were level with their League Two counterparts at half-time, but three second half goals booked the Warriors’ place in round three with a 4-1 win.
Manager Hale said: “We’re frustrated, I think you saw the good side of Huntly and the bad side of Huntly.
“I thought 1-1 at half-time was more than deserved, the players carried out the instructions really well and kept a good shape.
“We restricted their threat and I thought we imposed ourselves on the game, not consistently, but at times.
“When we got into the final third we created opportunities to score, but we were a little bit too reactive and if we anticipate a little bit better we probably come in leading at half-time.
“I said at half-time not to come in with regrets at full-time making mistakes about things we warned them about about.
“A few bad decisions that we’ve made resulted in a 4-1 defeat.”
Thanks to supporters
Huntly were backed by a vocal travelling support at Ochilview and Hale added: “The support we got was outstanding.
“The fans were in great voice and gave us tremendous backing.
“The players responded in a positive manner in the first half and we asked them to make sure the supporters could go away appreciative of their efforts and they did.
“We’re trying to get away from being a side that’s getting praise for playing well against bigger sides, we want to get the praise for getting results.”
First half an even affair
Huntly had to weather an early storm with Adam Brown’s free-kick causing a scramble in the box, but the visitors eventually cleared.
In attack Gavin Elphinstone was a threat for the Black and Golds.
Twice in the opening quarter hour his crosses from the right picked out Joel MacBeath, but on the first occasion a poor touch let MacBeath down and he headed over from the second opening.
In the 15th minute Alexander Thoirs made a terrific goal-saving block to deny Euan O’Reilly after Thomas Orr found space on the right to cross.
On 27 minutes Stenny goalkeeper David Wilson made a fine save to keep the scores level with Greg Buchan’s cross from the left met by the head of MacBeath.
Although Wilson parried, the visitors couldn’t scramble the rebound home.
Three minutes later the hosts took the lead with O’Reilly jinking down the left wing before finding Brown in the box and his low strike was deflected beyond Euan Storrier.
Shortly after Orr could have doubled the advantage but tugged wide from the right side of the area.
On the stroke of half-time Huntly equalised with Wilson’s poor pass out capitalised on by Jack MacIver who finished first time from 25 yards with the goalkeeper scrambling to get back between his posts.
In the 48th minute the hosts regained the lead with Ross Forbes’ corner from the left headed down for Orr to finish at the back post.
Huntly weren’t as threatening in the second period as the first but they were still right in the tie until goals on 68 and 70 minutes secured Stenny’s passage into round three.
First Ross Lyon picked out the top right corner with a curling shot from 25 yards after Thoirs had blocked Orr’s close range effort.
Then Brown found space on the edge of the area and drilled a low strike beyond Storrier.
The Black and Golds kept battling until the finish with Storrier preventing O’Reilly and Orr from adding to the score.
HIGHLIGHTS | @StenhousemuirFC 4-1 @huntlyfc #ScottishCup pic.twitter.com/TBYgrbd2r5
— Scottish Cup (@ScottishCup) October 24, 2021
‘Ultimately it’s frustrating’
Goalscorer MacIver said: “First half we had a few chances to be in front, but losing a goal early in the second half killed the game a bit.
“Losing another one quickly after makes it harder for us, but we could be pleased with the first half performance.
“I tried to read the boy I was playing against (for his goal) and luckily enough he missed the ball and I saw the keeper off his line, hit it and it went in.
“In the first round we had a good 3-0 win and we knew it would be difficult against Stenhousemuir but we had faith we could win so ultimately it’s disappointing.”
