Darvel boss hails club's achievement as they make it two semi-final wins in a week

Darvel boss Tony McInally hailed his side after they reached their second cup final in a week.

The Recreation Park outfit were pushed all the way by Shotts Bon Accord in Tuesday night’s West of Scotland Cup semi-final, however, with the higher division visitors needing a penalty shoot-out to prevail following a 1-1 draw.

The win came just a few days after sealing their place in the Scottish Junior Cup final for the first time in 48 years with a 2-1 aggregate win over Auchinleck Talbot.

The Vale now take on Pollok in Sunday’s final at the Broadwood Stadium in Cumbernauld.

Darvel controlled much of the first half and took the lead through Scott Walker on 20 minutes. They were unable to build on that, however, as Shotts grew into the game.

Paul McGeough saw a header flash wide before forcing Andy Wilson into a save before the interval.

The home side had the better of much of the second half but were dealt an early blow when Danny Burns pulled up injured as he looked to race beyond the defence.

Harry Kent came off the bench and duly bagged himself the equaliser on 62 minutes with a composed finish.

As the game approached the closing stages, both sides chucked everything forward in a bid to find a late winner.

Darvel went close on 83 minutes as a Stephen Bronsky header was tipped over the bar before Dean Cairns saw his strike blocked in a congested area.

Shotts charged forward, too, and almost took a fortunate lead in injury-time when Kent’s ball across goal was deflected narrowly wide of his own goal by Bronsky.

Darvel were given a late boost when Rico De Marco saw a second yellow for a tactical foul to prevent Leon Murphy charging at the Shotts backline - and they almost made the numerical advantage count but Jordan Moore was unable to bury a late chance.

And so to penalties where Wilson saved McGeough’s effort to give Darvel an early advantage before six successful attempts in a row presented Moore with the chance to win it for Darvel.

His strike was saved by Sandy Thomson, but it was the away side who progressed as Jack Gordon sent his spot-kick wide of the post.

Afterwards, McInally commented: “I thought in the first half we were good and really dominated the game. We were at it and deservedly went ahead but we weren’t able to get a second one.

“Unfortunately we just didn’t play in the second half and credit to Shotts - they changed the shape and got a bit of joy from that but we kept our nerve in the shoot-out.”

He added: “I always knew we’d do well in the shoot-out. There were four quality penalties and I thought our goalie would save at least one because he’s a top keeper and very agile.

“I’m pleased to get through. It’s the first time Darvel’s been in the West of Scotland Cup final and it comes off the back of getting through to the Scottish Junior Cup final so we must be doing something right.

“The players and staff deserve a lot of credit because it’s not an easy thing to do and they’ve earned their place in these finals. It’s been a massive week for the club.

“We are running a wee bit on empty just now - with injuries and suspensions, I only had 13 available players for this game and credit to some of the young under-18 boys who made themselves available.

“We’ll go into Sunday confident and we’re looking forward to it.”

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