After 5 weeks of inactivity Halliburton returned to action with regulars Wood, G & R Fulton, Young & Morgan all unavailable. Young may be out for some time after picking up a tasty knee injury in training. We had 15 on hand and the side sent out had Sct Marlow in goal, Ellis, Bews, returning to action for the his first game in 19, Simpson playing centre back for Halli for the first time and N.Duncan. Midfield had a changed look with Jacques starting along side regular McDonald, Mutch moved forward and Wallace. Up front Laing made another comeback to partner Webster. In reserve were Marlow, Grant, S.Duncan & West. Shedocksley is notoriously poor in the drainage department and the pitch allocated simply was not playable. The referee however gave the go ahead and play commenced with the home side forced back from the off. Halli took the lead early from the penalty spot with Webster converting after a defender had handled in the area. 4 minutes later we doubled our lead. A huge ball forward from Sct Marlow saw Laing bravely head forward to beat the outrushing keeper who clattered the comeback man to the ground in the process. Laing returned to action with a smile on his face. Halliburton were well on top and began to play some nice stuff despite the terrible condition of the pitch. McTeagle were reduced to 10 men after 20 when a defender chased back under pressure from Webster and succeeded in pulling a hamstring. With no subs the home side were now a man short but as is often the case they seemed to play better with the 10 men. It was the home side that grabbed the next goal when they were awarded a free kick 25 yards from goal. Their centre Stuart Cree rifled a low shot through our wall and into the net. We soon regained the 2 goal advantage and it was yet again from the penalty spot. This time Webster picked himself up off the deck to convert after he had been dumped in the act of shooting. Wallace was unlucky in 32 when he latched onto a low cross ball, his powerful effort was blocked. Halliburton fell asleep in 35 and a long ball in from the left was left by N.Duncan who should have received a shout. His man sneaked in at the back post to fire home. (H.T.2-3) Plenty of goals and as it was plenty still to come ! McTeagle were not out of it yet and squared the match on the hour. The goal came from a direct free kick and again it was struck by Cree. It ripped into the net and it is unlikely a better free kick was struck in any grade of football this weekend, a simply stunning strike. Halli were now a bit panicky and some childish bickering started to take place none of which helped matters and only served to cause more agitation. In 70 McDonald made a great challenge out wide to release Jacques, his cross in cleared. At the other end Jacques did well to clear at the back post then Webster got up to head over his own bar. After 75 Laing put us back in front when he latched onto a through ball went past a couple of defenders them smashed it into the top corner. In 77 Grant on for Wallace, came close with a strong shot blocked. In 83 Ellis moved forward to sling over a cross which had Laing acrobatically attempting a scissor kick which went horribly wrong ! Fortunately Jacques was well placed to collect the cross Laing had missed and he expertly curled in an angled shot to send Halli nap. Marlow and S.Duncan replaced Ellis and Laing and S.Duncan leapt to head out to the wing only for the ball to be picked up by a home player. He moved forward and lamped a high ball through the middle, Simpson couldn’t reach it and Barbour of McTeagle completed the scoring for the afternoon.(F.T 4-5). Up and down but in the end a Semi Final Slot secured. With the spine of the side missing and this being our first match in 5 weeks, todays tie always had the potential to blow up in our faces. We never looked like losing this and although not convincing, we got the job done and kick started our season again. No outstanding performances topman goes to Derrick Simpson who did well in an unfamiliar role. We now face Luthermuir in the Semi Final, they will be itching for revenge following our last cup tie & replay against them in the North of Scotland Cup. One game away from another cup final. Can we do it ? Yes we can !