An injury hit Calderbraes just couldn’t handle Mossend as they romped to what turned out be an easy victory for Mossend in the Inspiresport Scottish Youth Cup.

This was the first competitive match between the two sides but Mossend were already at an advantage with Braes being reduced to 11 players and having no goalkeeper in their squad before the game had even started.

It was a scrappy affair early on with no real chances for either team with Mossend having most of the ball and Braes scrapping to get it back.

14 minutes into the game however Mossend winger Jack Gibson made a mazy run past several Braes players and slipped through Connor McQueen who fired high into stand-in keeper Paddy McVicar’s net.

The game got even worse for Braes 6 minutes later when Aidan McRobert, who had made a promising start to the game, lashed out and kicked Aidan Clements after a 50-50 tackle with the defender.

From here it was a backs to the wall job for Braes, McVicar doing his bit to keep the score down with a fantastic save from Jack Docherty’s low 6 yard drive.

From the resulting corner however Mossend doubled their lead, Docherty this time getting the better of McVicar putting a header through his legs from a cross ball that was delivered by Aaron Minto. It was cruise control for Mossend from here on in and it was 3 before the break, Gibbon’s corner reaching Docherty again whose shot deflected off Braes full Back Declan “Wishy” Kerr’s foot into the net. 

Mossend came out in the second half looking to assert their dominance in the game and did just that in the 49^th minute when Gibson, who was a real menace for Mossend throughout the afternoon, had his shot ricochet off the post which let John O’Hagan tap into an empty net to make it 4.

It began to get ugly. Mossend scored two more in five minutes, Gibson’s long throw in found Minto who headed home before Paterson’s unlucky clearance deflected off Gibson to let him make his 3^rd goal contribution of the game.

Docherty really got a grip of the midfield spraying around passes and winning 50-50s whenever he was in one. However Kieran Dolan was able to race by him making Adam Brown pull out an impressive save to keep his clean sheet.

Mossend went on to add two more in five minutes, O’Hagan Scoring an impressive header from Adam Morrison’s cross before a moment of magic from Docherty, picking up the ball in midfield and driving a 30 yard looping ball over new stand- in keeper Lewis Elsender. Brown wasn’t to keep his clean sheet however, Dolan capitalising on a Dylan Murphy mistake to finish his chance and pulled one back for the Braes In the 74^th minute.

Ten minutes and a Bulldog pitch invasion later Mossend had entered double digits O’Hagan completing his hat-trick with another headed effort before Mark MCQuade slotted home to finish the scoring.

A fine afternoon for Mossend, however Calderbraes will be left wondering if they could have made a game of it with a full complement of players