Scottish Cup 3rd Round result
Elgin City 2		Livingston 1
Gunn 61 Crooks 78		Russell 74

Elgin City added to their impressive list of cup scalps with a fine display against 2nd Division leaders Livingston, with a big crowd at Borough Briggs cheering the home team on the team could do no wrong as Livi faltered.

Going in as massive underdogs in the game, Elgin were under a bit of pressure as Livingston had a couple of early chances, with some resolute defending from the City backline being the only thing that kept out Robbie Winters and Bobby Barr.

Barry Wilson, who had a stint at Livingston a number of years ago, came close in the 23rd minute and Tony Bullock had to be at his best to keep out his long range free kick, pushing it just over the bar. From the resultant corner Bullock also did well to block Jason Crooks’ driven cross into the box.

Straight up the other end, Livingston had their best chance of the first half, with Iain Russell finding himself clean through on goal, but Jamie Duff, who was a standout throughout the duration of the game, got himself back and put in a brilliant challenge to keep the striker at bay. The rest of the first half was a fairly even, with neither team doing much to trouble the opposing goalkeepers.

The second half saw debutant Peter Donnelly make his first crucial save for Elgin, making a brilliant stop with his feet to keep out Robbie Winter’s goalbound shot. Elgin countered well, and Barry Wilson’s brilliant footwork saw him take it past the Livi defender and he squared the ball for Jason Crooks, but his shot was deflected into the path of Tony Bullock.

The 60th minute saw Livingston have a goal ruled out for offside, the linesman – who was having a particularly good game – spotted Iain Russell in behind the defence as he managed to net, with the away side protesting but to no avail. Elgin seemed to take heart from this, and they took the lead in emphatic style. Jason Crooks, who has been described as almost being like a new signing this season, fed the ball to Craig Gunn and the striker took the ball down well and lashed the ball past Bullock.

There was then controversial decision that had manager Gary Bollan straight into the referee’s office at full time. Referee Gary Hilland initially awarded a penalty for Livingston after Craig Barr had gone down in the box with no contact, but the linesman had flagged straight away and after consulting his assistant, overturned his initial decision and also booked the defender for simulation. However, just a minute after, Iain Russell found himself clean through on the left hand side and managed to get his shot under Peter Donnelly. It was a blow for City, but they were not to let the goal get to them.

In the 72nd minute, a long ball forward saw Tony Bullock, one of the most experienced goalkeepers in Scotland, make a catastrophic error as he cannoned the ball off of Jason Crooks, and Crooksy got himself in on goal, and 10 yards out with an empty net, he was never going to miss. Borough Briggs exploded as Ross Jack and the bench rushed to the touchline to celebrate with his players.

Elgin’s crucial second goal was enough for them to seal the victory, and despite a late goalmouth scramble in the Elgin box, they could not find a way past Donnelly in goal, and the defence was fantastic yet again. With Inverness being drawn in the next round, and going on the performance shown, Elgin will have no fears in facing the SPL side on their own turf.

Elgin City: Donnelly, Dempsie, Inglis, Kaczan, Duff, Crooks, Gunn (Millar 78), O’Donoghue (Niven 19), Cameron, Nicolson, Wilson (McDonald 85). Unused subs: Edwards, Calder

Livingston: Bullock, Barr, Malone, Jacobs (De Vita 65), MacDonald, Watson, Fox, Sinclair, Russell, Winters (Scougall 75), Barr. Unused subs: Conway, O’Byrne, McDowall

Referee: Gary Hilland