Colin Spence reckons Irvine Meadow played their best football of the season as they crushed Cumbernauld 5-2 to reach the last 16 of the Scottish Junior Cup.
A second successive hat-trick for Mick Wardrope and strikes from Jamie Martin and Connor Boyd did the damage as the hosts put on a swaggering five-star performance at Meadow Park.
The visitors gave as good as they got but an all-action eight minute spell in the second half saw the net bulge four times, ultimately swinging the tie in Meadow’s favour.
And co-boss Spence was left purring at the quality on show as he insisted his side could have won by an even bigger margin.
He said: “We were tremendous. We knew it was going to be a right tough tie because Cumbernauld are a good team with some really good players.
“But I thought that was some of the best football we’ve played this season. It was outstanding at times and great to watch.
“If I want to be picky there was probably more goals in it if we’d kept doing the right things.
“But I think when the guys got the fifth goal they earned the right to go and play a wee bit and try different things.”
There was a real confidence about Meadow’s play from the first whistle and they stormed into an 11th minute lead with a goal that epitomised belief in their own ability.
From a throw-in near the half-way line, Meadow strung together seven slick passes before Wardrope bustled past two defenders on the edge of the penalty area and beat Cumbernauld keeper Michael McGee with a cute finish from the tightest of angles.
Martin was next to threaten as the home side went looking for a quick second, bursting into the box at pace with defenders scared to make a challenge only to hit a powderpuff strike straight at McGee.
Despite their early dominance, Meadow were brought back down to earth with a bump in 18 minutes when Cumbernauld equalised with a perfectly executed counter attack.
Striker Kieran Boubekri, the standout player for the visitors, applied the finishing touch after cleverly creating space for himself to shoot low past goalkeeper Marc Waters and into the bottom corner.
The goal knocked Meadow off their stride and they survived a couple of close calls soon after, Boubekri flashing a cross-cum-shot across the six yard line then forcing Waters into a save with his feet at the near post.
Meadow’s next chance arrived in 32 minutes, Martin bursting a gut to get on the end of Sam McLoy’s cross only for centre-half Jack Morrison to make a fortuitous block with his backside.
At the other end, Thomas Sinclair headed agonisingly over the bar after beating the onrushing Waters to a high ball.
It was proving to be a real ding-dong affair but Meadow got their noses back in front in 37 minutes, Wardrope finding the top corner with a rasping drive from 30 yards that flew past McGee, aided by the slightest of deflections.
The home side were just about worthy of a 2-1 lead at the break but the tie was still firmly in the balance.
Cumbernauld started the second half brightly, Patrick McCabe not too far away with a curling effort that had Waters scrambling across his goal-line.
It was then United keeper McGee’s turn to look on anxiously as a beautifully struck McCloy volley from the edge of the D drifted just inches past the post.
An eight minute goals blitz then decided the outcome of the tie in Meadow’s favour.
Wardrope turned provider to tee up Martin for a tap-in as Meadow motored 3-1 in front in 55 minutes.
But Cumbernauld showed they weren’t done yet as just 60 seconds later, Sinclair turned home a Boubekri cross from the right, with the final touch coming off the unfortunate Martin Findlay.
Meadow’s response this time was perfect and five minutes later Martin burst from midfield and slipped in Boyd who finished emphatically to restore a two-goal cushion.
And two quickly became three with Wardrope racing on to a slide-rule Martin pass and dinking a shot over McGee for his hat-trick.
Both sides went close to adding to the scoreline in the final 28 minutes and Cumbernauld deserve credit for refusing to give up, but this was Meadow’s day.
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