Rossvale 1 Greenock 0: Vale through in Scottish Cup

One moment of quality from Liam McGonigle made the difference as Rossvale made it through to Round Two of the Scottish Junior Cup, writes Mick Hydes.
Liam McGonigle got Rossvales winner against Greenock (pic by Jamie Forbes).Liam McGonigle got Rossvales winner against Greenock (pic by Jamie Forbes).
Liam McGonigle got Rossvales winner against Greenock (pic by Jamie Forbes).

In the first ever tie at Rossvale’s new facility at Huntershill there was little in the way of clear goal-scoring opportunities.

But McGonigle’s 17th minute run down the right flank and his outfoxing of the Greenock backline to cut inside and send a curling effort into the top corner was a historic moment in the new club’s history.

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Vale hardly threatened to add to their tally in the first half and survived a scare when centre-forward Steven Seaton received a yellow card for what appeared to be an elbowing incident on Greenock’s Paul Queen with the visitors screaming for a red.

Greenock’s best efforts came early in the second half. They included having a Ben Eardley effort cleared off the line and Glen Thomson had a penalty effort saved by the impressive James Donnelly after Stuart Morton was fouled in the area.

Prior to the penalty incident, sweeper Matt Niven had to retire from proceedings with a hamstring pull and his replacement David Leadbetter immediately committed the foul leading to the penalty award.

At at this point it looked as if the visitors were looking to take control of the tie but Donnelly’s save kept Rossvale ahead and they did not look back from this incident and then reorganised their defensive back-line to stay ahead.

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Steven Seaton went close to sealing the win for Vale late on and Colin Gailey almost claimed a replay for the Inverclyde men at the death as Vale hung on with Seaton and Chris O’Brien wasting late chances as Greenock went gung-ho as they tried to press forward for a late equaliser.