Newburgh clear their lines as Kennoway go on the attack. Pic by Graham Strachan.
Newburgh’s first foray into the Thorntons League Cup began with a heavy defeat at the hands of Super League side Kennoway Star Hearts.
This is the inaugural year of the Thorntons League Cup with the tournament starting with a sectional element.
Newburgh made the worst possible start to their cup campaign when after only six minutes of play they were reduced to 10 men with Paul MacBride being sent for an early shower.
The ‘Burgh defender knocked over a Kennoway attacker in the box conceding a penalty. The referee adjudged this to be a goal scoring opportunity and somewhat harshly sent the ‘Burgh defender off with a straight red card. Kennoway’s Johnstone then stepped up and sliced the penalty kick wide of the goal.
With 11 minutes played the opening goal came from Craig.
Newburgh manager Scott Hudson made personnel changes bringing on defender Grant Skinner for forward Kyle Fraser to try and shore up the defence. The move helped but it allowed the home side to claim possession easily with Scott Sutherland the lone Newburgh forward struggling to make much headway in the game.
The pressure told after 26 minutes when possession was lost in midfield, Rolland latched on to a long ball with just the goalkeeper Calum Sutherland to beat. Rolland won the foot race and lifted a delicate chip over the Burgh keeper to double the lead.
The one way traffic continued as Newburgh looked to hold on to half time. The defence was holding fast and it took a wonder strike from Craig to beat Sutherland.
The start to the second half was almost as difficult as the first had been with Kennoway adding two goals in the space of two minutes with Band netting a brace.
Newburgh: C Sutherland, Johal, Milton, P MacBride, Hall, Smart, Hutchison, S MacBride (C Robinson 66), Fraser (Skinnner 13), S Sutherland, F Robinson.