Darvel and Brechin City drew 2-2 in the Scottish Cup third round replay at Recreation Park but the Ayrshire side progressed to meet Arbroath in the fourth round after winning the penalty shoot-out 5-4.
Darvel started strongly and nearly grabbed the lead after seven minutes when City keeper Iain Ross produced a great save to keep out an Alan McKenzie header.
City hit back immediately with Julian Wade directing a header just wide of the target and moments later Michael Paton fired in a shot from the edge of the box which went over.
Darvel threatened again before the half-hour mark when a header from Darryl Meggatt came crashing back off the bar before City’s Lyall Booth sent a shot just wide.
FULL TIME | @darvelfc 2-2 @BrechinCityFC
Darvel win 5-4 on penalties after a breathtaking evening at Recreation Park. This means they will play @ArbroathFC away from home in the fourth round!#ScottishCup https://t.co/Lxoz6HsRhN pic.twitter.com/ynLd4lw23V
— Scottish Cup (@ScottishCup) December 14, 2021
The game was swinging from end to end with City finally breaking the deadlock in the 37th minute when Max Kucheraivyi forced his way into the Darvel penalty area before playing a short pass to Inglis who deftly lobbed the ball into the top corner of the net.
City’s lead only lasted seven minutes as the hosts stormed back with Meggatt rising above the visitors defence to power a header into the bottom corner of the net following a corner.
City manager Andy Kirk replaced Marc Scott with Garry Wood with 14 minutes remaining in a bid to change the fortunes of his side but it was Darvel who grabbed the lead for the second time with 10 minutes to go when Ryan Thomson side-footed the ball home from close-range.
Brechin looked dead and buried but a magnificent 35 yard strike from Murray MacKintosh with just three minutes remaining saw City level the match and take the tie to penalty-kicks.
Penalties:
Jack Milne’s penalty is saved.
Darvel ✅❌✅✅✅
City ✅❌✅✅✅❌— Brechin City FC (@BrechinCityFC) December 14, 2021
