Red card in cup defeat to Cumbernauld United should never have been given, says Bellshill Athletic boss Derek Wilson

With the sides locked at 2-2 late in the second half, Lindsay was dismissed for upending a Cumbernauld attacker.

The game finished 2-2 after 90 minutes before Bellshill lost out 3-2 after extra time.

It was never a red card, never,” gaffer Wilson told the Times and Speaker.

“To be fair, I thought it was a sending-off to start with.

“I thought he kind of pulled the guy back when he was ging through on goal, but then I saw the video evidence.

“There was not even any touch on him and the goalkeeper was covering it anyway.

“The keeper had the ball in his hands and then the referee gave the free-kick and sent Drew off.

“We had our chances as well in the second half of extra time. We had umpteen corners.”

Despite their best efforts, Bellshill couldn’t find a leveller in extra time.

“It was a frustrating game for the fact that we lose two silly goals and then we’re chasing the game again which, we’ve done on a few occasions,” Wilson said.

“It’s all right giving teams a start, but when it’s somebody like Cumbernauld you can’t give them a two-goal start.

“We knew if we kept it to two-nothing at half-time then we’d get the wind behind us and obviously the sun would be in their eyes, which was pretty bad on Saturday, so once we got the second half under way, we knew as soon as we got the first goal back that we could maybe go on and beat them.”

Leaders Bellshill return to Conference A action this Saturday at home to Maybole Juniors, with Wilson facing a selection headache as four of his squad are injured.