DIMINUTIVE Pollok midfielder Kieran McAleenan reckons he has to go back at least 17 years to remember the last time he scored with a header - and he only turns 27 tomorrow.

The 5ft 7in Lok ace rose at the back post to nod his side two in front after just half an hour of their Scottish Junior Cup second-round tie against Whitletts Victoria.

His goal set Tony McInally's men up for a surprisingly easy 4-0 win over one of last season's quarter-finalists, the result being sealed by his own second just two minutes from time, this time with a shot.

But although the Ayrshire visitors were furious that the smallest player on the pitch should have been allowed to get his head on a Tam Hanlon cross inside the six-yard box, no one was more surprised with the early birthday present than McAleenan himself.

He confessed: "It is a long time since I netted twice in the one game but it's even longer since I scored with a header.

"In fact, I may even have to go back to my primary school days for the last time I did it."

Pollok had started this Newlandsfield encounter in fine style and took the lead after only four minutes when John Sweeney rose unchallenged to head home a Hanlon cross.

Whitletts battled to get back on level terms but lost confidence after McAleenan nodded in the second.

Confirmation that this was not going to be Vics' day arrived on the stroke of half- time when a shot from Tony Balfour was deflected and appeared to be sneaking in under the bar until keeper Jordan Longmuir produced a wonderful tip-over save.

After the break Guiseppe Capuano, David Winters and Sweeney all passed up glorious opportunities to notch Pollok's third.

It took until ten minutes from the end for the fatal blow to be applied by the home side.

A penalty was awarded after a Sweeney header was diverted on to the bar by the hand of a Whitletts outfield player.

Ref Steven Reid decided Vics centre-half Lee Holland was the culprit and sent him off, despite his angry protestations of innocence. The whistler's face then turned as red as his card when 17-year-old Vics sub Sean Ewart owned up to being the guilty party.

It was refreshing to see Mr Reid acknowledge his mistake and retract his first decision and send off Ewart instead.

But the contest was ended by Winters netting the resultant spot-kick. Then the excellent McAleenan raced on to the ball following a sweeping passing move and fired a low shot past goalkeeper Ally McInnes.

Vics gaffer Steph McMillan said afterwards: "It was galling to see the smallest man in their team being left unmarked to head in the second goal. The freedom afforded to Sweeney for the first was just as bad from a defensive aspect.

"When you play good teams like Pollok they exploit your mistakes, as we found out to our cost here.

"At 2-0 down we needed to score the next goal to make a game of it but their keeper's great save from Tony Balfour was as close as we came."

Lok boss McInally said he was delighted with his players' professional approach to what could have been a tricky tie. He added: "Everyone did exactly what we asked of them.

"We didn't have a failure out on the pitch.

"Scoring four times and also recording a third clean sheet on the trot make for good reading.

"My only disappointment in this game was the number of misses which caused us to wait so long for our third goal.

"I strongly believe a decent run in the Scottish Junior Cup is not beyond this team."