Gala Fairydean Rovers up for cups on two fronts after home win against Stirling students

​Rovers booked a place in the semi-finals of this year’s Scottish Lowland Football League Cup with a 2-0 last-eight knockout of Stirling University, also at home at Galashiels’ Netherdale Stadium, on Tuesday night.

Defender Ciaran Greene got their first goal against the visiting students just ahead of the hour mark and loan winger Che Reilly added another ten minutes later to set up a last-four trip next month to East Kilbride, 2-1 victors away to Broomhill in their quarter-final this week.

Fellow winger Danny Galbraith was glad to see his side keep up cup runs on two fronts despite not being at their best, saying: “We got there in the end.

“It probably wasn’t our best performance, but the main thing was getting through to the next round, which is massive for the club and another game to look forward to.”

That cup success followed a league defeat to Scottish Premiership outfit Celtic’s colts three days previously and Galbraith was even less happy with his team’s showing that time round, given their numerical advantage following a 15th-minute red card for visiting defender Lenny Agbaire.

Reilly put away Gala’s opener four minutes later, with Galbraith and Logan Boyle also getting on the scoresheet, on 24 minutes and 43 respectively.

Lewis Dobbie got a goal back for the Old Firm under-21s on the half-hour mark and went on to notch up a hat-trick, however, his others following on 59 minutes and, from the penalty spot, on 63, with Daniel Cummings coming up with a 67-minute match-winner to claim all three points.

“It was bitterly disappointing to lose that game in the manner we did,” said Galbraith, 33.

“We were brilliant in the first half and thoroughly deserved to be ahead.

“The extremes we went to from one half to the other were really disappointing.

“We just didn’t deal with the game after the break the same way we had in the first half.

“Credit to Celtic, they still had the belief that they could go on and win in those circumstances.

“They stick to a way of playing and their principles regardless of the scoreline.

“The first goal of the second half was always going to be massive and they came out very brave despite being a man down and played on the front foot, throwing everybody forward, and they got the reward for taking that risk.

“After they’d got another back, the momentum of the game shifted and we just weren’t good enough to deal with that on the day.”

Manager Martin Scott’s Gala team are at home to Cowdenbeath this coming Saturday, with kick-off at 3pm, on Scottish Lowland Football League duty.

Rovers go into that game sitting 15th in the table, with 28 points from 27 fixtures, four places and five points worse off than the Fifers.

They’re then back at home next Tuesday – for the fourth game on the bounce, with two further fixtures at Netherdale to follow – for an East of Scotland Qualifying Cup fifth-round tie against Inverkeithing Hillfield Swifts, with kick-off at 7.45pm.