Elgin City 3 Kelty Hearts 2, Scottish Cup, third round
Kelty Hearts were the victims of a Scottish Cup upset as League Two Elgin City defeated them by the odd-goal-in-five to reach round four on Saturday.
Michael Tidser's team, who sit top of the division above their opponents, were knocked out of the competition after an entertaining tie at Borough Briggs.
Despite being a league apart, this was the third time that the two teams had faced each other competitively this season, having previously gone head-to-head in the Premier Sports Cup and SPFL Trust Trophy.
They had played in the group stage of the former competition, in July, which ended in a 1-1 draw in Moray, with Elgin winning a penalty shoot-out bonus point, whilst Kelty had earned a 3-1 win home win in the latter tournament in September.
Allan Hale's hosts are top of the fourth tier, and had not been beaten at home since losing to Hibernian in the Premier Sports Cup, but Kelty were looking to reach round four for the third time in four seasons.
In a tie that saw opportunities created at both ends, Dajon Golding saw an early effort for the hosts deflected behind, whilst Scott Williamson fired wide at the other end from Jacob McIntyre's cut-back.
Callum Flatman then nodded wide of the Elgin goal before Williamson, after taking a good touch from Ross Cunningham's pass, forced Aidan Glavin into a smart stop from a low drive.
Two minutes before half-time, however, the hosts took the lead when Ryan Sargent leapt highest at the far post to meet Owen Cairns' cross and send a header beyond the helpless Ryan Adamson.
After the restart, Golding flashed a shot narrowly wide of the far post before the visitors equalised just shy of the hour mark.
From the right-hand-side, Cunningham sent a free-kick into the penalty area which found Flatman, unmarked, to head home from around eight yards out.
As play continued to swing from end to end, Golding rattled the Kelty crossbar, but a fortunate break allowed Elgin to retake the lead with 13 minutes to go.
The visitors were on the attack, with Lewis Moore having a shot blocked, and from there the ball kindly for Golding to lead a counter into Kelty's half.
He then played the ball to the right for Dylan Gavin, who rifled a low drive into the far bottom corner of the net.
Six minutes later, Elgin grabbed a third goal when Gavin got the better of Flatman as they both attempted to win a high ball, with the home man beating his opponent before playing it across the box for Sargent, who stroked home his second of the game from eight yards.
Tidser's men were quickly offered a lifeline when Craig Johnston was pushed over inside the box by Kyle Girvan, allowing Cunningham to net from the penalty spot for his 10th goal of the season, but it wasn't enough as Kelty bowed out of the tournament.
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