Largs Thistle 1 Cumnock 2

A second half penalty claim could have made the difference for Largs today as Keir Milliken appeared to be barged down in the box.

Thistle had their chances in this highly competitive encounter but paid the price for missed opportunities in this PDM Buildbase West of Scotland Premier all Ayrshire clash.

Indeed, Largs could have been one up within ten seconds of kick off but Blair Docherty dragged his effort wide.

Thistle rued the miss as Cumnock gave Thistle little time on the ball after that and were regularly threatening the Largs goal.

Largs keeper Jamie McGowan had to make a smart double save to deny Cumnock the lead on 23 minutes. See clip below.

However from the resultant corner Ruaridh McIntyre powered home with a header at the near post to put the visitors ahead. See clip below

Thistle immediately responded with Will Sewell overlapping a defender and screwing a diagonal effort across the face of goal and just wide of the left post.

And on 28 minutes, Owen Bell lashed the ball into the bottom right hand corner of the net for a quality finish.

On 41 minutes, Cumnock continued to press after that with shots flying in, and Smart Osadolar thought he had got a third when he crashed an effort home at the left post but the referee's whistle had already blown.

It was a much more industrious second half display with William Sewell pulling a goal back on 52 minutes with an accomplished finish on the angle.

And three minutes later, the key moment of the game saw Keir Milliken brilliantly hoodwink a defender and round the keeper only for his effort to be dramatically cleared off the line by a Cumnock defender.

Osadolar struck the crossbar for the visitors but again the whistle was blown by the man in the middle.

An angled strike from Owen McGinty was also cleared off the line while Keir Milliken looked to be bundled down in the box but the referee waved away all penalty claims. See clip below.

Thistle boss Stuart Davidson praised his depleted squad for a good second half performance - Largs were down to the bare bones and couldn't make any substitutes due to a mounting injury list. 

However, the manager was critical of the first half performance and said Largs need to start better in games.

THISTLE: McGowan, McMaster, Ballantyne, Sewell, Love, Faulds, Docherty, McBryde, Milliken, McGinty, Sewell. Subs: Adam, Hughes, Haggerty, Macintyre. Farreell (GK)