Burgh returned to East Shore Park by welcoming Premier Division Glenrothes in the Alex Jack Cup, still licking the wounds of last week's horror show at Bo'ness. When you poke the 'bear', you are never quite sure how it might react. But the bear wasn't happy and came out fighting to put on a show to claim another giant Cup scalp by knocking out another Fife top flight neighbour.
The match got off to a slow start with few goalmouth opportunities for either side before Kellar Harris stepped up to the fore into the spotlight. In the 24th minute his cross-shot deceived the Glens defence but landed onto the roof of the net.
Moments later Harris had a good chance after a cross from the left was missed by the visiting keeper and the Burgh striker couldn't quite get a clean enough contact from close range to find the net with his effort being deflected behind for a corner.
From the resultant corner, the Burgh's top scorer made amends when he rose highest to power home a header into the net to give the keeper no chance in the 26th minute.
The joy was short-lived, however, as Glenrothes equalised in the 28th minute when a ball was cut back to Cargill on the edge of the penalty area, and he curled his shot into the corner of the net to make it 1-1.
The visitors started to create a couple of chances with David Chalmers tipping a low effort around the post on 33 minutes, whilst a desperate lunging block from Struan Grieve blocked as Lea Schiavone pulled the trigger to deflect the chance for a corner.
The spell of pressure didn't amount to much, though, and the hosts were awarded a free kick on the right hand side of the Glens penalty area in the 43rd minute. Central defender Elliot Jowitt stepped up for another of his dangerous whipped in free kicks. This time his powerful ball into the box deceived everyone in red including the keeper as it flew into the far top hand corner to put Newburgh ahead again. It was the summer signing's first goal for the club and you could see how much it meant to the young lad!
After a half-time rollocking that would have done Alex Ferguson and his hair-dryer proud, Glens stepped up the gas with a couple of early chances from McManus and Cargill which couldn't find the target before Leishman stooped low to flick home a header from a corner across goal to equalise for the Premier Division side once again.
Thankfully the hairdryer was more 'Barbie' than Vidal Sassoon and the batteries appeared to wear out and Burgh were holding firm from any further threat from the visitors.
Soon-to-be-hero of the hour Cai Macdonald went close on 63 minutes after a great through ball from Callum Anderson, but the turn and shot from Macdonald went just wide of the near post. Chalmers raced off his line in the 76th minute after Ronan Hall was dispossessed to dive at the feet of the attacker.
Chalmers again was called into action on 82 minutes with a save-for-the-camera (as described by someone near me) as he dived to fingertip an effort from Cargill around the post.
Cometh the hour, cometh the man. It was a reward for the constant determination and hard work from Cai Macdonald that saw the Burgh no.10 gain the rewards for his runs against opponents has offered. Macdonald kept battling following a defensive mistake to hold off his marker, then beat the keeper and get beyond his, holding off another defender to net an excellent composed finish in the 85th minute to set up another Fife Cup scalp.
There was no comeback from the visitors from this and the entire Burgh team maintained their strength to hold out and seal progression into the next round with a dogged commitment. Full credit to each member of the squad as it could have sunk without trace following the Bo'ness game. For that alone, the players and Management Team deserve a pat on the back - well done!
