Threave Rovers boss says players gave Scottish Cup their best shot following Syngenta loss

Threave Rovers boss Vinnie Parker believes his players can hold their heads up after their Scottish Cup exit.

The Castle Douglas side’s hopes of making the main draw came to an end on Friday night when they narrowly lost to Syngenta at Ochilview.

And Parker (right) feels they were unlucky not to force a replay at Meadow Park. He said: “We said before we couldn’t have any regrets.

“We had boys sitting with their heads down afterwards but everyone gave it their best shot, we just fell short.

“I’m not saying we were massively unlucky not to win, we were unlucky not to get a replay.

“In terms of our performance, our attitude and how we battled, everyone could leave that changing room with their head held high.

“There was absolutely zero between the two teams.”

The only goal arrived in the 18th minute through Kevin Fotheringham.

Threave hunted for an equaliser after the break, Alex Henderson seeing his lob to hit the bar before goalie Graham Wright forced a fine save from his opposite number Lewis Duffy when he came up for a late corner.

Parker said: “We knew the standard we would be up against.

“They’re buying and selling players and they’re a well drilled and experienced outfit.

“We were very, very unlucky not to get a replay.

“We’ve hit the bar, had a clear penalty claim and the goal they scored was lucky – it came off a deflection from a 50/50 tackle at the edge of our box and the boy is arguably offside.

“If you go a goal behind in these games, it’s hard to find an equaliser.

“We changed to a 3-5-2 at half-time to try to get down the sides and it worked.

“We were a better team in the second half.

“Ryan Coates played left back and had a great game and our two centre halfs were exceptional.

“They had done their homework.

“They tried to stifle our ball players, pressed us at 100mph and in the first 15-20 minutes it was hard to get out.

“The game was 100mph.

“If you were watching as a neutral you got great value for money but unfortunately it doesn’t get us through to the next round.”

Threave return to West of Scotland league action on Saturday. Currently top of the fourth division with a 100 per cent record, this weekend they travel to Rossvale Academy.