A second half strike from Ross Allum was enough to send 10 man Spartans into the semi final of the Lowland League Cup after they disposed of East Stirlingshire at Ainslie Park.

The striker’s effort sees his side head to Dumfriesshire next Saturday to take on Gretna 2008 in a bid to reach their second cup final this season.

It was a victory that Dougie Samuel’s outfit were made to fight for with just 10 men for all but two of the ninety minutes played.

Seventy five first half seconds had elapsed before former Shire man Chris Townlsey was back in the sheds after seeing red following his dismissal due to a transgression that saw him dispatched for being the ‘last man’.

Arguably not the easiest of starts for the hosts against an East Stirlingshire side keen to inflict a first defeat against Spartans this season.

Looking to make capital on the back of their numerical advantage, the Ochilview-based side raced forward and Rodgers saw his shot cannon 0ff Carswell’s crossbar.

Spartans rallied and Stevenson was unlucky not to break the deadlock with a powerful drive that had keeper Barclay scrambling across the face of the goal and watch it flash narrowly wide.

Then it was the turn of Maxwell to come close.  Fine work by Beesley allowed Allum to deliver into the box, only for Maxwell to nudge his header past the upright.

HT: Spartans 0-0 East Stirlingshire

Corbett replaced Herd shortly after the interval as both sides looked to forge an opening that would prevent any danger of an additional half hour should the still be locked at the end.

That breakthrough happened on the hour.  Spartans pressed and Allum despatched an effort towards the goal that, despite the valiant attempts of a Shire defender under his own crossbar, found the back of the net, much to the delight of the home support.

As the game entered its final stages, dangerman Rodgers saw himself denied once again, this time by Carswell who produced what turned out to be a match-winning block.

FT: Spartans 1-0 East Stirlingshire

Malt and Hops Man of the Match: Blair Tolmie

Spartans: Carswell, Turnbull, Maxwell (Saunderson), Herd (Corbett), Tolmie, Greenhill, Beesley, Allum (Dawson), Dishington, Stevenson, Townsley. Subs (Not Used) Comrie, Gilpin.

Spartans finished their Lowland League campaign in third place despite a disappointing 1-2 last day defeat at home to Dalbeattie Star at Ainslie Park.

Dougie Samuel was forced into a change between the sticks ahead of the match against the Dumfries side with Ross Gilpin deputising for the injured Blair Carswell whilst there was a return to the starting line-up for striker Jack Hay.

Despite it being an end of season encounter, there was no shortage of robust challenges as both sets of players set out to dispel any rumours of this being a dead rubber tie.

With twenty minutes on the clock, it was the home side who took a deserved lead.  Enterprising play by Craig Stevenson opened up a gap to send Ross Allum into the Star penalty box before unleashing an unstoppable drive that crashed into the net in off the base of Graham Wright’s inside post.

Igor Gabiola who had counted himself unlucky to earn a caution earlier in proceedings was in the thick of the early action and his powerful strike saw Wright pull one off for the cameras with a fine save.

It was to be the Spartans’ playmaker’s final involvement in the game as he failed to recover from a challenge that was perhaps left the visitors fortunate to continue with a full compliment on the park.

Somewhat against the run of play, Dalbeattie went into the interval on level terms.  Gilpin, largely a spectator from the Pilton Drive end was beaten by a well executed free-kick by Lewis Sloan who found the postage stamp from the edge of the box.

Having scored five minutes before the break, Star perfected their recovery by taking the lead in the same timeframe after.  A ‘Garry Owen’ up and under into the home penalty area saw Gilpin outjumped in an aerial assault and Tommy Muir was on hand to slot home the spillage into an empty net.

Teenage replacement Johnny Grotlin was close to scoring, with his attempt pinging around like a pinball amongst a plethora of legs in the Dalbeattie box.

Then, with two minutes left on the clock, Jack Beesley was upended on the edge of the box.  Scott Maxwell could only look on in sheer frustration as his dead ball effort beat the wall, but only for it to hit the inside of Wright’s post and race away to safety.

Final Score: Spartans 1-2 Dalbeattie Star

Teams: Spartans: Gilpin, Brown, Stevenson, Gabiola (Dishington), Tolmie, Greenhill, Beesley, Comrie (Grotlin), Allum, Hay (Maxwell), Townsley.  Subs (Unused) Saunderson.

Dalbeattie Star: Wright, Murray, Thorburn, Todd, Maxwell, Baty, McHarrie, Dunglinson, Muir, Sloan, Brotherston (Slattery).  Subs (Unused) Wells, Wison, Park, Slattery, Anderson.

Goals from Jamie Broadfoot and Daniel McFarlane earned Cumbernauld Colts all three points, a result that dents Spartans chances of a second place finish this season in the Lowland League.

With East Kilbride crowned champions, Spartans headed to Broadwood Stadium looking to close the gap on East Stirlingshire.  Dougie Samuel added new loan signing Shaun Turnbull to the bench following the defender’s move from neighbours Civil Service Strollers.

As the sunshine threatened to breakthrough the clouds, Spartans looked to penetrate the Colts defence and Craig Comrie was first up to test Chris Fahey between the sticks.

However, it was the hosts who took the lead in the 10th minute.  Jamie Broadfoot collected the ball midway inside the Spartans half of the synthetic surface and launch a speculative lob effort that caught Blair Carswell off his line.  The backtracking keeper was unable to make enough ground to prevent the strike from nestling in the back of the net.

Scott Maxwell was close to converting a header from a decent dead ball delivery from Jack Beesley as Spartans looked to reply without delay.

The visitors finally had the ball in the net as the first half edged towards the interval, unfortunately for Blair Tolmie, he was adjudged to have impeded Fahey as the two collided in an aerial clash.

Maxwell then unleashed a rasper from the edge of the box, leaving the crossbar wobbling like a freshly set jelly and Fahey flat-footed.

HT: Cumbernauld Colts 1-0 Spartans

Shaun Turnbull made his Spartans debut following his introduction as the teams returned from the sheds, replacing Tolmie who suffered a broken nose for his troubles just before the half time hooter.

With twenty minutes left on the clock, Spartans task of reigning in the Colts got decidedly harder when McFarlane doubled the lead.  A shot from Stephen O’Neil was blocked by Mikey Herd on the edge of the Spartans penalty area.  The ball fell into the path of McFarlane who just about managed to get his boot to it ahead of an Alan Brown / Shaun Turnbull combo to squeeze home tightly inside the outstretched Blair Carswell’s post.

Youngster Jonny Grotlin came off the bench and his pace proved a challenge for the Colts defence.  His through ball found Jack Hay who was denied by the feet of Fahey who raced off his line to deny the substitute striker and secured the three points.  Hay had one final effort to set up a grandstand finish, only to see his header narrowly clear the bar.

FT: Cumbernauld Colts 2-0 Spartans

Spartans: Carswell, Herd, Stevenson, Tolmie (Turnbull), Townsley, Comrie (Hay), Beesley (Grotlin), Greenhill, Allum, Maxwell, Brown.  Subs (Unused): Dishington Saunderson, Gilpin)

Malt and Hops MOTM: Craig Stevenson