Hurlford United march past Pollok in Dyslexia Scotland Junior Cup

That much was made clear at a sunny Blair Park when a Paul McKenzie-inspired Ford put Pollok to the sword by running out 3-1 winners in what was an eventful and always enthralling quarter-final clash.

The visiting Glasgow side battled their corner right to the final whistle and were left regretting a second-half penalty miss by Kieron McAleenan when 2-0 down, however boss Tony McInally did not sound too aggrieved afterwards.

Macca said: "You'll get no complaints from me because the better team won on the day and we must be first to hold our hands up and accept it prior to licking our wounds and coming back even stronger for the experience.

"Making it into the Scottish last eight has shown how far we've come as a team, however Saturday shows how far we have yet to go in terms of establishing ourselves as a potential winner of Junior football's top prizes.

"We always knew that to come out on top against the proud cup holders in their own backyard would require every Pollok player to be at their best and, unfortunately, that was not the case.

"Less than a handful of players deserve pass marks in my book, and the most galling thing is we stressed the watchwords - stay calm, stay focused, stay disciplined - prior to us leaving the dressing room, and we did none of them.

"Yes, we missed a penalty kick, but even more criminal was conceding the second goal from a free-kick awarded to us just outside their penalty area."

Pollok's exhibiting no little quality in their West Cup defeat of Hurlford three weeks ago undoubtedly led to Ayrshire gaffer Darren Henderson taking their threat seriously judging by the way his fired up players came roaring out of the blocks.

Just four seconds in, Findlay Frye was forced into a foul on his United adversary Jamie Wilson, and two minutes later the Lok midfielder was fortunate to receive just a ticking off for decking the same player.

The resulting free-kick saw Hurlford striker Ross Roberstson unleash a stunning volley that was heading into the top corner of the net but for a superbly acrobatic save from Lok No.1 Jordan Longmuir.

But the goalkeeper's heroics only delayed the opening goal as the visiting defence failed to clear their lines from the corner kick and hitman Stewart Kean curled home a 15-yard shot for 1-0.

That scoreline was duly doubled with 16 minutes on the clock when United broke upfield and McKenzie waltzed around Dean Richardson before unleashing a fierce shot that looked to be over the line before Kean blasted home and claimed his second goal of the tie.

A worrying blow then befell the Ayrshiremen when dominant centre-back Chris Robertson limped off with an ankle injury, but their rejigged backline - with Martin Brown on as stopper - survived Pollok pressure to lead 2-0 at the interval.

Visiting supporters in the near 800 crowd would have been heartened with how their team restarted proceedings, and skipper Paul Gallagher coming close with a header was followed by a spot-kick award in Pollok's favour when McAleenan was sent crashing by Paul Cameron's challenge inside the box.

The midfielder took the kick himself, but his sweetly-struck shot into the bottom corner was brilliantly saved by Hurlford keeper Ally Brown. What followed was tantamount to capitulation as dangerman McKenzie went past Richardson at ease again and clipped over a cross that a lurking Robertson spectacularly volleyed off the underside of the crossbar and stayed alert to nod the rebound home for a 3-0 scoreline.

Shortly afterwards, Pollok countered with a goal out of nothing when their best player on the day - Alan McKenzie - took advantage of a Glen Mitchell error to run through and prod the ball beyond Brown, however any faltering comeback dreams died just minutes later when John Sweeney received his marching orders from whistler Steven Reid.

Picking up the first of the game's 13 bookings came home to haunt Sweeney after picking up a second yellow for tripping Robertson when the striker veered across his path.

The closing stages saw Hurlford make full use of their man advantage to create - and pass up - several scoring opportunities.

Winning gaffer Henderson said: "We probably should have scored more goals, but nothing can take away the delight I feel in these players making it into the semi-finals again. The penalty could have been a game-changer but for Ally's brilliant save and how ironic is that when you consider he telephoned at 6am on Saturday to say he couldn't play after being up sick most of the night.

"Our remaining goalkeeper, Steven O'Neil, was working and I was juggling with the idea of bringing in a Senior keeper on loan but throwing travel sickness tablets down Ally's throat got him through the 90 minutes and, as it turned out, Stevie also appeared before kick-off time. I think they do it to give me heart failure."

Meanwhile, Yoker were left similarly disappointed as their outstanding run came to an end at the same last-eight stage after going down 3-2 at home to Linlithgow Rose.

Calum Smith netting either side of an opportunist Tommy Coyne strike had the East Region side seemingly cruising at 3-0, however John Harvey pulled a goal back to set the scene for a Whe Ho fightback.

Seasoned defender Harvey then scored again, but his second counter did not arrive until the 89th minute and the rattled East Region outfit were able to see out what little time remained and secure their semi-final place.

Linlithgow and Hurlford now join Auchinleck and Musselburgh in the semi-final draw scheduled to take place at Mar Hall this Friday where it is hoped Ayrshire born and bred Scotland ace Steven Naismith will be available to pull the names from the hat.