Blantyre Vics gaffer David Greig lauded his players after they marked their first competitive outing of the season with a 1-1 home draw to Rutherglen Glencairn.

The keen boss could not contain his delight as a depleted Vics line-up recovered from the shock of conceding a goal inside 30 seconds to salvage a share of the spoils in the Euroscot Eng Sectional League Cup through a 75th-minute equaliser from Andy Sinclair.

Greggy said: "I thought we were going to have our work cut out when the Glens made such a marvellous start but the heads never dropped out on the pitch and the guys just rolled up their sleeves and got their reward for sheer commitment and effort.

"I should be happy with a draw but the result actually did us a huge disservice because we dominated territorially and undoubtedly carved out the better scoring opportunities, only to be denied by a mixture bad luck, bad finishing and a very good goalkeeper in JC Hutchison.

"The trick now is to build upon that first performance and it gives me great heart to know there are players to come back from injury, suspension and holidays."

Glencairn - also missing established picks - went up in their first attack as Keiran Donaghy set up Thomas Kilmartin to fire home.

The visitors suffered a blow when defender Willie Galloway limped off, leaving a reshuffled defence to fend off pressure from Vics.

One-time Scotland Juniors keeper Hutchison came to the fore second-half with terrific stops to deny Craig Smith, Alan Christie and Davie Kirkwood but the Glens stopper could do little to stop Sinclair equalising with a close-range shot after a good set-up from Vics substitute Billy Davies.

David Galt could have won it for the Vics but for Hutchison's excellence, and Smith miskicked another chance.

The Castle Park stalemate let Vale of Clyde top the Section Four pile after goals from Anton Franchetti, Barry McGeechan, Joel Kasabundi and Hashim Cole brought a deserved 4-0 victory over East Kilbride Thistle.

eueoscot Eng Cup ­holders Clydebank had summer signing Stephen Gardiner to thank for a 1-0 winning start away to Maryhill. Rivals Yoker squeezed through with an identical scoreline at home to Glasgow Perthshire, Michael Rogers netting in the second half.

POLLOK overcame the first-half red carding of Tam Hanlon to just triumph over Neilston thanks to Davie Winters firing home in injury-time.

Arthurlie, cut to nine men after the first-half dismissals of Paul Stewart and Rhys ­Devlin, still ran out 2-1 winners over Benburb, with Conor McGlinchey and Kyle Rafferty on target. Stevie Murphy netted for the Bens.

There were plenty of first-day shocks, with Petershill losing 1-0 at home to lower league Bellshill Athletic thanks to a bizarre Craig Palmer own-goal, while St Rochs sprang a surprise at the nearby James McGrory Stadium to beat Shettleston 2-1.

New signing Bryn Halliwell made a dream start between the Town posts when brilliantly saving a Darren Simpson penalty, but was helpless as the Candy Rock star won a loose ball to put his side one up.

Gary Stewart then doubled the home side's lead and despite Scott Anson pulling a goal back, St Roch's held on for a celebrated victory over their city rivals who won the corresponding fixture 9-1 and 8-0 in the last two seasons.

Expect the unexpected in Junior football and that's what happened in the Guys Meadow Stadium where Gary Carroll and Davie Dickson goals and a Scott Murphy penalty helped Cumbernauld United to a 3-0 win over Rossvale.

United gaffer John Queen said: "We were fortunate to get the penalty-kick award because our claims for a blatant trip on Carroll were turned down. But the offence was such a stonewaller one of the Rossvale players picked the ball up and the ref had no choice but to award it for deliberate handball."

In Ayrshire, Ardagh Glass Cup holders Cumnock were left ruing a missed chance after Brian McLuckie's men squandered a 2-0 lead earned by Kieron Maxwell and Darren Mitchell and had to settle for a 2-2 draw at Glenafton whose goals came from Aaron Connolly and Klark Thomson.

Auchinleck Talbot hammered Lugar Boswell 7-0 with strike duo David Gormley and Graeme Wilson both bagging hat-tricks but they were bettered by the four-goal tallies of Beith frontman Andy Reid and James Marks of Largs Thistle in a 5-5 encounter.

Whitletts Vics striker Jim Wilson also netted four as Vics racked up the highest first-day score with an 11-0 rout of Girvan.

In the father-versus-son contest at Winton Park as Ardrossan Winton Rovers and Kilwinning Rangers drew 1-1.

Relations were anything but friendly with Ryan Caddis sent off for Chris Strain Senior's home side, as was Alan Mahood, assistant to visiting boss Chris Strain Junior.