Published: Friday, 11th April, 2008 9:00am

Peebles no Kings of the Castle

Ormiston 3 v Peebles FC 2

PEEBLES crashed out of the King Cup after they went down to Ormiston in a hectic second round tie played in sunshine, hailstones and snow at Recreation Park, Pencaitland, last Saturday.

In fact, Peebles played well enough over the piece, but they just couldn"t quite catch up with Ormiston despite scoring a late goal.

Ormiston were the first to pose a threat when, from a Simon Heyes throw in on the right, Paul Lynch flicked the ball onto Mike Sneddon, who lashed it just over the Peebles crossbar with a shot on the volley from 8 yards.

Peebles replied with a Gavin Tainsh right wing cross picking out Glen Harley, who sent in a crisp shot on the turn from 14 yards which brought out a fine two-handed diving save from James Daly.

However, Peebles came close to opening the scoring after 18 minutes. From a hefty clearance by the Peebles keeper, Harley neatly flicked the ball onto Mark Brown, who went racing into the Ormiston box before he seemed almost certain to score with a cracking shot from 16 yards, until the ball came rebounding back off the Ormiston crossbar and away to safety.

Immediately at the other end Heyes made an excellent run down the right before his cross to the far post found Alfonso DeGaetano, who somehow managed to blast the ball over the Peebles crossbar from close in.

Ormiston broke the deadlock in the 22nd minute when, from a Lynch free kick in midfield, the diving Darren Walker could only parry an angular header from Craig Fisher into the path of the in-rushing Mike Sneddon, who promptly slammed the loose ball home from close range.

In reply, Harley of Peebles flicked on a Tainsh right wing cross to Chris Graham, who sent in a fierce shot on the volley from 12 yards, bringing out an excellent two-handed save from Daly at the far post.

But then at the other end, after the Peebles defence had failed to clear a Mark Leslie free kick, DeGaetano was on-target with a blistering shot from 18 yards until Walker tipped the ball over his crossbar with a splendid one-handed save.

Then just before half time, after a neat Peebles build-up, Michael Osbourne let go with a pile driver from 30 yards that was well saved by Daly.

Ormiston added a second goal from the penalty spot just three minutes after the interval. After Osbourne had up-ended Craig Fisher inside the Peebles box, Paul Lynch gave the diving Walker no chance when he fired the ball into the roof of the Peebles net with a well-taken penalty kick.

Peebles replied with a neat build up which involved Osbourne, Harley and Tainsh before Paul Devlin was foiled by a fine save from Daly.

Shortly afterwards, Ormiston"s Paul Lynch was shown the yellow card for tripping Brown in midfield.

Peebles continued to press forward with Kerr Dodds sending in a snap shot from 14 yards, which brought out another excellent diving save from Daly.

Moments later, with the hailstones bouncing off the dugouts, Daly pulled off a splendid save to foil a good effort from Harley.

Peebles finally reduced the leeway after 77 minutes when, from a Dodds pass, Paul Greenhill neatly slipped the ball through to Michael Osbourne, who gave Daly no chance with a terrific shot from 20 yards into the bottom left-hand corner of the net.

But Ormiston notched up a third goal just two minutes later when a Lynch right wing cross to the near post picked out the in-rushing Craig Fisher, who coolly flicked the ball past a helpless Walker from six yards.

Then Peebles scored a consolation second goal three minutes from full time when, from an Andrew Martin right wing cross, Mark Brown slammed the ball home with a first time shot from ten yards.

Despite some late pressure, Peebles just couldn"t find an equaliser to send this game into extra time.

Ormiston: J.Daly, S.Heyes, G.Nisbet, M.Leslie, T.Donnelly, A.DeGaetano (S.Adams, 80 minutes), S.Thomas, C.Fisher, P.Lynch, M.Sneddon, G.Purves.

Peebles FC: D.Walker, G.Tainsh, G.Thom, P.Lee, K.Robertson (K.Dodds, 45 mins), P.Greenhill, M.Osbourne, P.Delin, G.Harley (J.Robertson, 80 mins), M.Brown, C.Graham (A.Martin, 45 mins). Substitutes not used: P.Russell, D.McGinley.