Brora’s Scottish Cup dream was ended at Broadwood as 10-man Broomhill secured a dramatic extra-time win.
The Highland League outfit had high hopes after a last-ditch equaliser while the hosts had player-manager Simon Ferry sent off.
But Alan Cook’s penalty in extra time sent the Lowland League team through.
Brora boss Craig Campbell said: “I’m not going to be too critical of my boys tonight. I thought they gave us everything. In the first half we were dominated, but we changed a few things and in the second half we were a bit better.
“It was a bit of a rollercoaster, credit to the boys, they dug in.
“You could see by the end that players were going down with cramp, they had given everything.
“It was quite an entertaining game for the neutrals but for us it’s obviously disappointing.
“We showed a great deal of character, I thought Tony’s goal was a great finish and Martin showed great composure to bring us level again.
“I’m pretty disappointed with the penalty decision if I’m being honest, I’d like to see it again but my initial thoughts were that you can’t give a penalty for that – especially how quickly he has given it.
“We need to bounce back, we’ve got a massive game next week away at Fraserburgh – they come thick and fast.”
The first chance of the match fell to the visitors when Josh Meekings somehow failed to hit the target from two yards after meeting Gregor MacDonald’s cross.
Open Goal gradually grabbed a foothold on proceedings and their pressure paid off after 19 minutes when Jamie Semple latched on to Ryan Tierney’s pass before coolly dispatching the ball beyond Joe Malin.
Tonight’s team to face @OGBroomhill_FC in the first round of the Scottish Cup. pic.twitter.com/gpkshWKKFa
— Brora Rangers (@brorarangers) September 16, 2022
The loss of Jordan MacRae to injury just before the half-hour mark came as a further blow to Craig Campbell’s side and they again relied on their keeper to keep the deficit down when he acrobatically kept out Broque Watson’s stinging strike.
Brora should have levelled on the stroke of half-time when Andrew MacRae’s low shot was kept out and Tony Dingwall was quickest to the rebound but his attempt was deflected past the post.
Kirk Broadfoot leapt unchallenged to glance a header wide and then Callum Wilson blazed over as Open Goal threatened to put the game beyond reach in the early stages of the second half.
It was proving to be a night of misfortune for Brora, and following a freak injury to Malin, 18-year-old Ruardhri Nicol replaced him between the sticks.
🚨 FULL TIME 🚨
The match ends 3-2 against @brorarangers and it's a great win for the home side thanks to goals from Semple, Maley and Cook!
Well done the lads👏
OGBFC 3️⃣ – 2️⃣ BRFC pic.twitter.com/sa0JX1KcbV
— Open Goal Broomhill FC (@OGBroomhill_FC) September 16, 2022
Nicol’s first task was to dive low to deny Watson and he then had to be alert to stop Wilson’s powerful effort.
Brora’s ambitions of a Scottish Cup adventure were fading fast but they drew level with eight minutes left, Dingwall delightfully lifting the ball over the helpless David Wilson after a slick passing move.
A thrilling final few minutes brought incredible drama. Evan Maley appeared to have landed a last-minute sucker punch before Martin MacLean found the net for the Highlanders to force extra time while the hosts lost Simon Ferry to a red card.
