Football columnist George Wall gives his view on a classic cup victory for Largs Thistle, the imminent arrival of VAR to Scottish football, and the Old Firm's European woes...

Now that was a result. 
Beating Beith at Bellsdale 4-3 with a slim squad says it all about the character of this team. I said it a few times but I feel Largs are only two or three players away from being a top team. It was a worry though to see only one sub on the team lines and I feared the worse . 


Although at the end of the day the match was won it is something that needs to be addressed. There is no way Largs should be going into a game with only one sub. All credit too to George Sewell, two goals but what about the second one from him, a great finish. 
The way George gives everything and leaves nothing on the park he would be my first pick every time. 
The team just need to keep that level of performance up. They are in a very competitive league and are not where they want to be in that they are near the bottom. 
Another cup game this week against Ardeer and having watched Ardeer against Greenock recently I would expect Largs to win convincingly.
In Europe the three Scottish teams, Rangers, Celtic and Hearts are having a hard time. Should we expect more from them? From the start of the groups stages it has always looked liked Rangers would get zero points the way they have been performing. Celtic seem to getting recognition for playing well but for me, so what, your still getting beat and Hearts just like Rangers are struggling. I did expect more from Rangers and Celtic though. Europe really has been a let down 
The draw was made for the EURO 2024 qualifiers with Scotland drawn in Group A alongside Spain, Norway, Georgia and Cyprus. It looks a good draw for us. Surely we should expect to match Norway, Georgia and Cyprus. Maybe Spain is beyond us but all in all I feel positive about it. 
That man Haaland will be a handful though in the Norway team but I was thinking is he so good because we now expect defenders to be ball players and physically they can’t cope. Match him against a “old school” central defender like Gordon McQueen, is that the answer to stopping him? Having spent a evening in the company of Gordon a few years ago I am sure he would have relished the challenge.
VAR is nearly here, it will be used in all Premier League games starting with the Hibs v St Johnstone match on October 21. 
It is also going to be used in the semi-finals and final of the Scottish Cup and League Cup. I can’t wait to see how this is going to go. The first Rangers v Celtic game it is used on will be one to watch. The referees have had 10 months of extensive training so all should be good. 
What a game! Liverpool v Man City. I can’t remember the last time I watched a game like that. Non stop from the start. It surprised me that City only made one sub with all that talent they had on the bench.
Other surprise was Haaland not scoring, I thought Liverpool deserved their win. For all the nice football played it was a good old fashioned goal that won the game, a long kick out from the keeper, centre forward gets on it and scores.