Boss Stevie Aitken was happy to give star men Chris Erskine and Paul Paton a break as East Kilbirde secured a late win over St Anthony's.
Darren Smith put Kilby in front at McKenna Park before Njabulo Ndlovu levelled in the South Challenge Cup, however late strikes from Lewis Kidd and Craig Malcolm saw Aitken's men into the next round.
With key men being rested for the clash having picked up knocks in recent weeks, the K-Park gaffer was happy to give his full squad a chance in the cup.
"Like any cup tie the focus is getting into the next round, and we achieved that," he told Lanarkshire Live Sport . "But did we achieve that the way we wanted to achieve it? No.
"We made seven changes to give the boys who hadn't had as much game time, because of the good run we have been on, so that was achieved as well.
"The conditions didn't help the performance and it was a difficult place to go. It was a long afternoon but we got there in the end."
On the key men missing for the cup clash, Aitken added: "Paul Woods, Paul Paton and Chris Erskine have played pretty much every minute so far this season, so we wanted to give them a break with three games in a week.
"We knew with the three games in a week it was going to be tough for them, and Paul Paton and Chris have been struggling with wee knocks for the last five or six weeks.
"It was good to be able to give them some time off."
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