KELTY HEARTS were held to a draw by 10-man Elgin City as they opened their Premier Sports Cup campaign on Tuesday evening.
Michael Tidser's side had to wait to get their competitive season up-and-running, as they were the inactive side in the five-team Group C section when the tournament began on Saturday.
They travelled to Borough Briggs to play League Two Elgin, who were thumped 5-0 at home by Hibernian on Saturday, but had to settle for a share of the spoils.
The home side were reduced to 10 men after just half an hour, when Jake Dolzanski was red-carded, and Kelty took advantage in first half stoppage time by taking the lead.
Scott Williamson, making his debut after signing on loan from Queen's Park, took advantage of a poor touch from a City player to rob him just inside the home half, and race towards goal.
He then showed great composure to side-step away from a lunging opponent before calming slotting into the net from six yards.
However, with 20 minutes left, the 10-men equalised when Michael Dangana controlled Dajon Golding's cross before poking home from close range.
The tie then went to a penalty shoot-out, to decide who would win a bonus point, and despite Lewis Moore, Ross Cunningham, Liam Brown and Williamson all netting, Scott Allan's effort against the bar proved crucial as Elgin scored all five of their spot-kicks to claim a 5-4 success.
"I thought for large spells we were excellent in the game," player / manager, Michael Tidser, told Kelty Hearts TV.
"My only gripe, so-to-speak, is we weren't clinical enough. We probably had six, seven, really good chances to put the game to bed, and when you're playing against teams that are down to 10 men, you know they'll hang in and they'll always try and wait for that one chance, which they got and managed to stick away.
"Overall, disappointed. Happy with many aspects of it, but still room for improvement."
This Saturday, Kelty welcome Hibs to New Central Park in their second match in Group C, which kicks off at 3pm.
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