Glencairn fully deserved this victory and their place in the forthcoming Lady Darling Cup Final. The Rutherglen men had by far the best of the possession, inventiveness and opportunities in the first half and to a lesser extent in the second but Victoria somehow managed to keep themselves in with a shout, right up until the last minute of injury time when a late Wallace strike sealed their fate.

 

The tie was only minutes old when Connor McGuiness hit a precision cross/pass into the Victoria penalty area, just on the edge of the six yard box, beyond the keeper’s reach, Andrew Quial read the path of the ball and met it with his head to put past the keeper and get Glencairn of to the perfect start, 1-0.

 

Rutherglen kept the pressure on Victoria and soon had a chance that should have seen them go two up but for the luck of the bounce. McGuiness struck a perfectly executed free kick in towards the near post area, again just out of the keepers reach, Quial managed to put a foot out to make contact but the ball bounced and struck the bottom of his boot, somehow sending it away from goal. From about one yard out in front of an empty net it had seemed certain to lead to the second goal, virtually any contact should have seen it go in, Victoria had been very lucky.

 

Seconds later Victoria had a decent chance when Lee Jack picked up the ball in the Glencairn box, he moved one way then another trying to find space before unleashing a shot from ten yards that was well saved by Christopher Truesdale. They were on the attack once more when a cross came to the edge of the Rutherglen penalty area and Greg Fernie’s shot went inches high of the crossbar. On twenty two minutes Fernie had the ball in the back of the Glencairn net from ten yards out, the keeper seemed to have saved this effort, the ball managing to creep over the line having avoided a clearance attempt from a Glencairn defender, 1-1.

 

Glen’s had taken control of the match again and after having a couple of chances, Daniel Salaha made a good run down the wing, his cross was met fifteen yards out by Paul Ross Caughey to head in Rutherglen’s second, 2-1. Caughey was in the action once more when he picked up the ball in the Vic’s penalty area, beat a player and shot from fifteen yards, Jamie Logan was up to the task and got down to put the ball out for a corner.

Almost immediately from the re start, Victoria had a great chance to equalise when Steven Collins crossed in for Fernie, he rose to meet with his head from five yards out,  unfortunately his contact wasn’t the greatest and struck the ground in front of Truesdale’s goal. Glen’s then played out of defence with Martin McCann crossing into Victoria’s penalty box, the ball almost evaded everyone’s reach but Craig Dallas managed to get the ball under control, his shot from ten yards out was met by a great save from Logan. Seconds later McCann made a strong run towards the Victoria goal, his shot from twenty yards almost scrapped the far post.

 

Both teams went on to contest the rest of the match fairly evenly with three or four chances each with nothing separating them but for the Salaha strike, which was until the third minute of injury time when substitute Chris Mallon crossed for Dale Wallace to strike from fifteen yards leaving the keeper with no chance, 3-1.

 

Glencairn now have a final against Musselburgh Windsor to look forward to. The East Lothian side's route to the final sealed by a comfortable 3-0 victory away to Bishopton Juniors, meanwhile Victoria play Glasgow University hoping to close the gap with those at the top of the table.