Cumnock Juniors make club history with Scottish Cup win

The Townhead Park side overturned a 1-0 half-time deficit to defeat Highland League outfit Turriff United 2-1 in East Ayrshire to earn a home tie against Lowland League side Broomhill FC in the competition's next stage.

The 'Nock showed immense character in the match, after Findlay Frye missed a first half penalty before their opposition took the lead shortly before half-time.

A Mark McLennan strike brought the home side level before Turriff were reduced to ten men, and Andy McLaughlin completed the impressive turnaround.

But boss Murdo MacKinnon insists his side are still far from the finished article as the former Pollok boss - who only took the reigns at the end of last month - set his sights much higher.

READ MORE: Cumnock Juniors: New manager Murdo MacKinnon announced

He told the Chronicle: “I was far from happy with the performance last Saturday so it was time for new ideas, time for change, and the players needed that as well.

“I’m delighted with them and their attitude, not just on Saturday but during the week in training in terms of how they went about their business, taking on new ideas and things we were working on.

“But we’ve still got a million miles to go for where I want to be, I have to emphasise that, we’ve got a long road to go – one result doesn’t change everything we still need to improve and get better in all aspects of our game.”

And despite earning their place in the next round to face Broomhill at the end of November - MacKinnon is not allowing himself or his players to look to that match just yet.

He added: “My attention is firmly on Saturday and Irvine Meadow in the league, we want to be winning games and putting points on the board.

“I want to finish as high up this league as I can. I didn’t come to Cumnock to be also rans – happy, safe, stay in the league and maybe get a wee cup run here and there.

“That’s not why I’m in football. I’m in it to win, to be successful – for not just myself but more importantly for the club I’m working with.

“Every club I’ve been at have had that out of me and I’ll be driving Cumnock to the max to get to the point where we can be highly competitive on all fronts.

“Where I see my Cumnock team in 12 months' time - not just personal but in terms of improvement in style of play, resilience, robustness, grit, fight and tempo – we’ll be a different animal.

“We’re making improvements, we’re a decent side, but we’ve got a long way to go - and I’m here for the long haul and I’m here to win.”

The Cumnock boss was full of praise for the character his side have shown already during his short tenure.

MacKinnon commented: “Since I’ve taken over I’ve made very clear what my expectations are and been very clear about what we’re going to do to progress and move forward.

“The boys have embraced that so I can only be positive about the players and I can only speak highly of them.

“I asked them for character at half-time, being 1-0 down its easy to go into your shell, but they didn’t they went out and they stuck to it.

“We missed a penalty and they scored late through an individual error – which can happen – but the boys showed great character second half coming out, continuing to play, they stuck at it and got their rewards.

“It’s something that’s been missing in recent games and since I took over – actually playing for the 90 minutes rather than just playing well in one half.”

He was not only delighted to get the win from a personal standpoint, but for all those within the club.

MacKinnon added: “It was a brilliant win, a great occasion for the club. The Scottish Cup is a brilliant day for everyone associated with the club.

“I was unaware that the club had never been to the third round, so that was pleasant to hear, so I’m absolutely over the moon for everybody at the club and all the people that put the hard work in behind the scenes.

“The Scottish Cup brings a financial reward the further you go, it really helps the club. Clubs don’t run on buttons, they need financial reward to allow them to operate well.

“The guys in the committee are fantastic, really hard working, in supporting myself since I come in."

MacKinnon told how Cumnock were the perfect club to return to football with after taking a break from the game.

He explained: “It was one of the things I said when I had my break out the game. Coming back into the game, something I thought about was that I wanted to work at a big club but more importantly, I wanted to work with good people.

“I can see that they are here, everybody around the club works so hard and they want the club to succeed and do well – I can see what it means to them and the supporters, who have been so welcoming.

“They’ve been first class with me since I arrived, even in defeat, they know where I’m going, they know where I want to take the club, so they are behind me and they’ve made that clear – I’ve been over the moon with the support I’ve had from everybody.”

Cumnock are back in action on Saturday, November 4, as they travel to North Ayrshire to face Irvine Meadow at Meadow Park at 2pm.