WE have long since come to expect the unexpected in this Covid affected 2021 but Rob Roy’s 1-0 victory over Auchinleck Talbot on Saturday still takes the biscuit.

This Kilmarnock Pie West of Scotland League Cup first round  encounter had been previewed as a game where the Ayrshire kingpins would drive home a perceived superiority …well they have accumulated more than double the league points total of the Rabs in the season to date.

But nobody could have foreseen these young and hungry Kirkintilloch tyros confounding the form book and serving up a performance so full of conviction that it made an absolute nonsense of their lowly 13th position in the Premier Division stakes.

True, they benefited from a quite astonishing turnaround call by Referee Connor Ashwood  when firstly awarding  Talbot a goal in 57 minutes after Mark Shankland  burst  clear to cutely lob the ball over home team goalkeeper Matty Kerr and into the empty net.

The whistler and his in close proximity assistant Stuart Broadwood  saw nothing wrong with the score however fellow official Luke McCaulay, running the line some 40 yards further away on the far away side and other half of the pitch ,believed  Shankland had handled the ball and his upraised flag sparked  a brief confab which brought Mr Ashwood to  reverse his original decision.

Bot boss Tommy Sloan admitted afterwards,

“ We could have taken a 1-0 lead and probably didn’t deserve it however for the Referee to be over-ruled by an assistant standing much further away from an incident is quite unique and I’ve never seen anything like it in all my years in the game .

“That said , I cannot remember any other shots at goal by us during the 90 minutes and if truth be told we just didn’t show the same appetite for the game as the Rob Roy players did today.

“We touched on it with the guys at half time but what we said has fallen on deaf ears and ultimately we can have no complaints about the result.”

To have gone a goal behind would have been extremely harsh on a Rob Roy side whose  collective display of all-out commitment was finally rewarded in 73 minutes when arguably their best player on the day, midfielder Craig Truesdale, worked himself into space to smash a left-footed 25 yard shot high into the net that even the feted Andy Leishman  was helpless to stop.

Almost immediately ,the marksman  signalled  to his dugout that he could not continue and he limped off in the direction of the dressing rooms leaving most Rob Roy spectators to think he had done himself damage with his sliding knees goal celebrations.

The 21 year old revealed, “ I’d tweaked my hamstring about five minutes earlier and was thinking about coming off but then further aggravated it with my smack at goal however it was worth it to score for the first time this season.”

The one time Stirling Albion signing’s liking for a pot at goal had seen him come close to snatching the game’s opening goal on a couple of occasions while another  Rob Roy near thing arrived after his removal from the fray when  an effort from team mate Luke Kelly struck Leishamn’s post .

The manner of his side’s victory pleased gaffer Stewart Maxwell no end .

He said afterwards, “ That is by far the most comfortable  any team of mine has been when  playing Auchinleck and  I knew we had that performance in us.

“Despite losing 3-0 at Hurlford last weekend, the guys had played really well so we were in really good spirits coming into today on top of being fit and well organised.

“To fully deserve a win over a top side like Talbot is a mark of the progression being made by this group of players though I must give special mention to the far side linesman for having the b---s to stick his flag up at Shankland’s goal because it was a 100%  handball offence.”

The only other all-Premier clash went the way of Hurlford United after Jack Whittaker and Mikey Wilson were on the mark in a 2-0 victory over Kilbirnie Ladeside and if Auchinleck ‘s tumbling out is a Cup upset then so too is near neighbours Cumnock’s 2-1 defeat at home to Maryhill for whom Craig Patterson and Ross McKenzie netted either side of Greg Ferry’s score for the Nock.

Eyebrows will also have been raised by Mark Armour bagging the only goal of the game to help Kello Rovers knock out  Petershill through in Springburn while another surprise was Vale of Clyde inflicting a 3-1 knockout blow to Whitletts Vics thanks to John McCue, Lee Morrison and Liam Donaghy scores.

Bonnyton Thistle topped the high scoring mismatch stakes in running out 8-0 winners over Newmains United with Dean McColm(3), Kyle Gilroy(2), David Stevenson (2), and Taylor Allan on target while Pollok contrived to dish out a 6-0 hammering to Campbelltown Pupils yet crazily finished up with only nine men after Matty Grant and Bryan Wharton were separately  dismissed  in the Newlandsfield contest’s closing stages.

Doubles from Dale Simeon and Gary Carroll along with an Andy McLaughlin score saw Arthurlie win 5-0 down at Winton Rovers while Kilwinning Rangers posted the exact same scoreline against Royal Albert thanks to counters from Ally McColm, David Anderson, Carlo Monti, Ricky Hanvey and David Ramsay.

A goal from Cammy Murray could not prevent Glasgow Perthshire losing out 2-1 at Forth Wanderers however no such early exit befell

Ashfield thanks to Mark McManus, Sean Doherty(2) Darren McGuire (2) and Ryan McManus goals earning a 6-2 victory over Glasgow University for whom Robbie Stirling grabbed a well taken brace  of goals.

In the few league games to take place , Troon inflicted a damaging blow to Rossvale’s relegation survival hopes with a 2-1 triumph down at Portland Park while the crunch Conference League clash of Division B leading lights St Cadocs  and Gartcairn ended with honours shared 2-2 through Ross McNeil and Scott Stevenson goals enabling Gartcairn to recover from going down 2-0 to Dylan Dykes and Chris Dallas strikes for the Saints.

Drumchapel United went 8 points clear atop the Division C pile after Martin Grehan, Gary Muir , Jack Smith and David Finnigan netted in a 4-2 win away to Vale of Leven .

RESULTS: KILMARNOCK PIE WoSFL CUP.First Round. Petershill 0 Kello Rovers 1, Hurlford Utd 2 Kilbirnie Ladeside 0,Rob Roy 1 Auchinleck Talbot 0, Ashfield  6 Glasgow University 2, Ardrossan Winton Rovers 0 Arthurlie 5, Renfrew 0 Lanark Utd 1, Yoker Athletic 1 Largs Thistle 2, Harmony Row 3 Girvan 1, Royal Albert 0 Kilwinning Rangers 5, Carluke Rovers 0 Clydebank 4, Glenafton 3 BSC Glasgow 0, Whitletts Vics 1 Vale of Clyde3, Pollok 6 Campbeltown Pupils 0, St Anthonys 1 East Kilbride Thistle 3, Rutherglen Glencairn 3 Finnart 1, Benburb 4 Kilsyth Athletic 1, Larkhall Thistle 1 Cambuslang Rangers 6, Forth Wanderers 2 Glasgow Perthshire 1, Cumnock 1 Maryhill 2, Neilston 0 Cumbernauld Utd 3, Bonnyton Thistle 8 Newmains Utd 0, Saltcoats Vics 0 Irvine Meadow 4. PDM Buildbase Premier League. Troon 2  Rossvale 1.PDM Buildbase Conference League A. Maybole 0 Johnstone Burgh 1.PDM Buildbase Conference League B. Gartcairn 2 St Cadocs 2.PDM Buildbase Conference League C. Vale of Leven 2 Drumchapel Utd 4.