It was Scottish Cup day in Inverurie where Colony Park and Ayrshire Rosebank United contested against each other. The magic of the cup certainly came to Inverurie and put up a thriller in which the hosts came out on top winning by four goals to three. Ayrshire made sure they were prepared for the match properly by staying in Aberdeen last night.
Colony sailed into a four goal lead inside the opening 30 minutes however fair credit to Rosebank for showing fighting spirit to get themselves back into the game and make sure that it wasn't a walk over for the Inverurie outfit. The magic of the cup certainly came to Aberdeenshire, this game was a fantastic game for the neutral.
Ayrshire had the first notable effort of the game after a great ball was swung in by Ben Dixon which was met by the head of Chris Easton whose header just flashed wide of the right hand post. Both sides went for it right from the start, exactly how a Scottish Cup tie should be fought out.
It was the Inverurie outfit who got the breakthrough after 5 minutes when a great through ball from Adam Harper played in William Hutchison whose effort was only parried by Jack Borthwick and Ben Pratt was at the right place at the right time to put Park in front. Just the start that the hosts had required.
Colony were hunting for more and it wasn't long before the hosts were celebrating again. Connor Killoh spotted a negative in Ayrshire's defense and dribbled the ball towards the box before drilling home Colony's 2nd.
The Inverurie outfit then made it 3-0 on 18 minutes when a great ball found Harper who banged the ball past Borthwick. This goal was to be a crucial moment in the game maintained Colony's great start to the game that they had created.
Harper then picked up his 2nd to make sure it was four to the good for the Park with a solo effort after another great ball in. What was great about the hosts this afternoon was the way that they played football and also the way that Colony cut through the Rosebank defence. It was great to see for those who witnessed the game.
Ayrshire got a goal back with the last kick before the interval after a good delivery in by Easton was nodded into his own net by Taylor Chapman. It was slightly unfortunate for the Chapman who tried his hardest to clear the ball away from his own area however the pace of the ball being swung in meant that it was hard to clear away.
Chris Easton was a stand-out for Ayrshire Rosebank United and it was the influential player who got his side's second goal to reduce the leeway. Another pacey free kick towards goal went in past the goalkeeper. This game the visitors the encouragement required to try and mount a fightback and potentially keep themselves in the tournament for an extra 20 minutes.
With five minutes remaining, Rosebank got a third goal after a great through ball was threaded into Ben Dixon, who tucked the ball away into the bottom left hand corner.
Anxiety was growing on both touchlines with the hosts eager for referee Ewan Forbes to blow the final whistle whilst the visitors were keen to get another goal to guarantee another 20 minutes of football which wouldn't have been a problem for the crowd as it was exciting stuff to watch.
The clock had just struck 2:20pm and the referee whistled a draw to proceedings. A fantastic match to watch and whilst it was heartbreak for Rosebank, Colony will be pleased to be in the Last 16 draw and join fellow North clubs, Banks O'Dee Albion, Lewis United and Deveronvale.
Adam Harper: Was a constant thorn in Colony's side and took his two goals very well, an all round good performance.
Chris Easton: Was the stand-out player for Rosebank, his free kick delivery was a weapon and tried everything he could to rescue the tie for Ayrshire.
The passing and movement which led to the opener, great stuff which the top professionals would be proud of!
The second free kick from Chris Easton, a wonderful strike!
Ian Pratt, Colony Park coach said "I'm absolutely delighted with the victory, we started off great and we pressed them early and got the 1st goal which always helps, we were sitting comfortable at 4-0 and then Rosebank got a goal on the stroke of half time. "It was backs to the wall for a start in the second half, I thought the effort was tremendous from us, I couldn't single out anybody in the team, they were all excellent."