Broxburn Athletic were in dreamland on Saturday as they progressed to the second round of the Scottish Cup for the first time in their history.
A scintillating afternoon was capped when Zander Miller’s last minute winner had the fans inside a busy Albyn Park in raptures as his hat-trick was enough to get the better of Lowland League outfit East Stirlingshire.
Speaking after the game, ‘Burn gaffer Brian McNaughton couldn’t hide his delight at the result; ‘’I don’t know what it was to pay to get in today, but it was well worth the money! They’re a fantastic team, and we had to make sure we were up for the battle. I think we got our tactics right – we were hemmed in a bit in the second half, but when you’ve always got a chance when you’ve got centre forwards who score regularly.''
Broxburn raced into a two goal lead inside the first fifteen minutes. Miller got his first of the afternoon with just three minutes on the clock, latching onto a long ball before lashing home to inside of Shire goalkeeper Jamie Barclay’s near post. And ten minutes later it was two nil. Broxburn ventured forward again and won a corner. Kris Goss swung in a cross which midfielder Connor Kelly got on the end of.
Kelly was bundled over in the box and the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Miller stepped up coolly despatched it beyond Barclay's despairing dive.
Broxburn, now with the two goal advantage began to sit back and Shire, a league above ‘Burn, began to take control. However, for all their possession Broxburn keeper Connor Wallace was rarely troubled.
East Stirlingshire forced a series of corners but Broxburn’s defence stood firm and frustrated their opponents.
Shire did however get themselves on the scoresheet six minutes before the break, when midfielder Nicky Low scored direct from free kick. Low, who counts Aberdeen and Dundee among his former sides, hit a venomous shot which left Wallace with no chance and the ball sailed high into the net to make it two-one at the half time interval.
As was to be expected Shire came racing out the traps for the second half. Half time sub Sean Brown instantly caused the Broxburn rear-guard bother blazing over with a volley a minute after the re-start.
And Broxburn full back Nico Gibson reacted quickest to clear off the line from a Matty Flynn effort as East Stirlingshire laid siege to the Broxburn goalmouth.
Try as the Shire might, Broxburn’s defending remained resolute and it took until the final five minutes before they finally gave way. A cross from the right found an unmarked Andy Rodgers at the backpost and the veteran striker scored into the empty net.
It seemed like the game was heading for a replay at The Falkirk Stadium, but deep inside injury time Zander Miller completed his hat-trick to spark jubilant scenes inside Albyn Park. Miller was first to get on the end of a long ball and he chipped it over the on-rushing Barclay to seal an historic win ‘Burn and their place in the second round
Speaking after the game, a delighted Miller said he was ‘’Very happy! It couldn’t have went better than that to be honest. They had a lot of possession but we knew that before the game. We had a gameplan and stuck to it, although they got the goals which was a bit scary!’’
By Steven Watson
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