Brandanes captain leads by example - Scottish Amateur Football Association

Whitelaw, who had come off the bench to salvage a replay when the sides first met in Rothesay, set the Danes on their way within five minutes of the kick-off - and helped hold the team together in the second half before Wes Pattison sealed the win late in the game.

After a week of heavy rain it was no surprise that the park looked very soft, with long grass not making it a great surface to play on - but after winning the toss and choosing to take advantage of a strong cross-wind, the Danes wasted no time in making their intentions known.

Within five minutes the visitors had forced their first corner kick of the afternoon, and though the high ball into the United box was headed out for another corner, the home defence was caught out second time around as Darren Harper played a nice ball along the deck and Whitelaw fired the Danes into the lead.

And things got even better for the Rothesay men six minutes later when referee Jim Laird awarded the visitors a direct free kick just outside the United box, and Whitelaw, getting the nod from the referee to take it quickly, caught the home defence napping to put the Danes two ahead.

But United began to force their way into the game from the restart, and as in the first match between the sides it was the man in the number nine jersey who was the Irvine side's main attacking threat.

The Danes, though, dealt well with any danger, with keeper James Dunn, starting his first competitive game of the season, doing well to gather a difficult high ball on 20 minutes.

By the half hour mark the Rothesay men had re-asserted control of the game, and Girdle Toll's defence, as in the original tie, was beginning to struggle against the pace of Pattison, Sean Lawrence and Ian Livingstone.

With the wind showing no signs of letting up the Danes tried to keep the pressure on, knowing that more goals before the break could provide some much-needed security ahead of a difficult second half - but as so often happens in football, the team on the attack was caught out on the counter, and a long clearance from the United defence was held up in the wind and found the hosts' striker in the clear with too little cover in defence, and Dunn was given no chance as the hosts' danger man pulled a goal back.

Buoyed up by the goal, the United forwards came at the Rothesay defence with renewed vigour, and the Danes were hit by an injury blow ten minutes before the break when Gary McGregor went down heavily in a clash with a Girdle Toll attacker.

Both men had to leave the field for treatment, but McGregor was unable to continue and David Whitelaw was sent on in his place - but it was the elder Whitelaw brother, Neil, who stole the show just moments later when a long Rothesay throw-in to the edge of the home penalty area found the Danes skipper, who turned, saw the keeper off his line and played a beautifully-weighted shot high into the net to put the visitors 3-1 up.

Girdle Toll found themselves under some severe pressure in what remained of the first half - Lawrence hit the side netting after a fine run which left his marker for dead, and a low ball into the hosts' six yard box was twice beaten away by the keeper before a home defender blocked a third attempt on goal.

But as Mr Laird blew his half time whistle the travelling support were left wondering whether, despite an excellent first half performance, a two goal lead would be enough in the face of the wind after the break.

And as expected, United fired high balls into the Rothesay area at every opportunity in the first ten minutes of the half, though the Danes' defence coped well with everything that was asked of them in the early stages.

The surface was far from ideal for the Danes' favoured passing game, but the Rothesay men kept the ball on the deck as often as possible - the only sensible thing to do in the conditions - and soon began to come back into the game.

Only an excellent save by the United keeper prevented Livingstone opening up a three goal lead after great build-up work by Harper, and the visitors had two strong penalty claims waved away by the referee in the space of five minutes after Pattison had a run stopped by a tug of his jersey and Lawrence had his legs taken away from underneath him.

The game was developing into a typical cup tie encounter, with both teams giving their all - and the match took an intriguing twist on the hour mark when Girdle Toll were given an indirect free kick on the edge of the Rothesay area and the ball was hammered into the net, the referee ruling, to the disbelief of the Brandanes, that the ball had come off a defender on the way to goal.

That goal might have been expected to make it 'game on' for the last half hour, but from the restart it was immediately noticeable that some of the Girdle Toll players were beginning to feel the pace, with the Danes, not for the first time, looking much the fitter side.

Malcolm Brown came off with 20 minutes to play, Stuart McKechnie coming on in his place after recovering from his recent shoulder injury and slotting into his familiar partnership with captain Whitelaw in the centre of the midfield.

By now a tiring United defence was finding it hard to contain a Danes team which was still full of running, and McKechnie brought out another good save from the home keeper from a free kick on 73 minutes before a Livingstone effort was just wide of the mark from close range.

The visitors had yet another penalty shout turned down with 12 minutes left, but any fears of a late Girdle Toll fightback were well and truly dispelled moments later when a good throw-out from keeper Dunn saw the ball moved quickly from defence to attack, and Lawrence left two defenders in his wake as he ran in from the left wing before unleashing a shot which was tipped on to the crossbar by the home keeper - only for Pattison to seize on the rebound and hammer home a left foot shot to make the game safe.

Manager Henry Tait sent on Alan Poole for Liam Tait in the closing stages, and though by now it was just a question of playing out time, the visitors showed they were in no mood to settle for four goals when the Girdle Toll keeper showed his worth once more with another fine save to deny McKechnie.

Few teams will enjoy as much success in Ayrshire as the Brandanes did on Saturday, and it was particularly pleasing to see both James Dunn and Stewart McKechnie coming through the game without any ill effects; hopes are high, too, that Gary McGregor will have shrugged off his injury before the Danes begin their West of Scotland Cup campaign this weekend.

Team: Dunn, Williamson, J. McMillan, McGregor (D. Whitelaw), L. Tait (Poole), Harper, N. Whitelaw, Livingstone, Lawrence, Pattison, Brown (McKechnie). Subs not used: Fisher, Guy.

* Eight Caledonian League teams were in Scottish Amateur Cup second round action on Saturday - full results as follows (Caledonian League teams in bold).

Balmore 3 Eastfield Amateurs 0
Kelvinbank Star 3 Hamilton FP 6
Knockentiber 4 Gartcosh United 3
Giffnock North 1 Condorrat Club 1
Low Water Miners 1 Bearsden Amateurs 0
Minishant v Weir Recreation - postponed
Viewfield Rovers 0 Pollok Amateurs 4
Bishopton Amateurs 2 Dalziel HSFP 3 (replay)
Girdle Toll United 2 Rothesay Brandane 4 (replay)

* The Brandanes are back on the road this Saturday, October 25, when they begin their West of Scotland Cup bid with a second round tie in Glasgow against Aikenhead Thistle of the Scottish Amateur League.

www.webteams.co.uk/brandanes - Rothesay Brandane website
www.thecaledonianleague.org.uk - Caledonian League official pages
www.thesafa.org.uk - Scottish Amateur Football AssociationMPUMinCharsCutOff:210 PageLength:8027
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