REFEREEING decisions angered Kilwinning Rangers boss Chris Strain as his side edged through to the Ardagh Glass League Cup semi-finals, following a penalty shootout win against Irvine Vics last night (Wednesday).
Strain said: "It was level at half-time and deservedly so. Vics are not a bad side and like to get in about and mix it, if they get a sniff they will mix it. We should have been out of sight at half-time. We blew them away for the first 20 minutes of the second half but then it was the referee show. The sending off for Jamie Whyte, you will never see a worse sending off in football. It was never a foul. We weren't bullied by Vics, we have two boys of 19 and 20 who played at the back and Kevin Adams is a handful and uses his physicality well. They will learn from that. The linesman said Joe Coleman was sent off because we swore and said it was hopeless. Our coach Stuart Wilson said: "Get a grip referee but that was a sending off!"
The manager added: "They had two half chances apart from the goals they scored. Vics probably deserved a draw over the 90 minutes but had we taken our chances in the second half we would have been out of sight."
Vics boss Stevie Wilson said: "We were brave, tried to keep three men at the back, rode our luck a wee bit at times but were decent on the counter and I was pleased with our discipline. It was a morale-boosting performance after the Winton game on Saturday. We had eight players missing and a young goalie at 17. Now it's just about recovering for the Marymass derby.
"For me I thought we were always in the game, defended well and attacked well. Our pressing was really good, I must give the players credit but we can't drop our standards. It has been a good cup campaign. Not many teams will go to Kilwinning and come from behind twice. We knew we had to come to Kilwinning and work and put the Marymass game aside. We look forward to Friday, hopefully we will give a good account of ourselves in the game and try and win it. But it's advantage Meadow. Monday's game at Lugar is also a massive one for us."