Armadale Thistle Ladies bow out of Scottish Cup despite spirited display

Armadale Thistle Ladies bowed out of the Scottish Women’s Cup after a narrow 2-1 defeat to SWFL League One side Edinburgh Caledonia.

The home side came out the blocks flying and were ahead within two minutes after the referee pointed to the penalty spot following a foul by the visiting goalkeeper.

The kick was expertly converted by home defender Kodie Butt who fired low into the corner to put the fifth-tier side in front at Volunteer Park.

Armadale dominated the early exchanges and could have doubled their lead but for a combination of bad luck and good defending by the visitors, who were struggling to get a foothold in the game.

The contest settled down into a bit of a midfield battle but with few chances at either end, and as half-time approached the home side were well on course to be ahead at the break.

However, disaster struck as they conceded two goals inside five minutes just before the interval, both scored by Caley’s Eva Steele.

The first saw her smash the ball high into the Armadale net following an indirect free-kick in the area and was quickly followed by a brave header when she took advantage of hesitation from the defence to loop home a header to give the visitors an undeserved half-time lead.

The second half saw Armadale push for an equaliser with Katie McKinnon seeing her header from Mirren Rennie’s corner cleared off the line.

In the last few minutes Rachel King, who had impressed since replacing Katie McGregor, was denied by a good block by the goalkeeper when breaking through on goal.

The home side were unable though to find the goal to force extra time that their display deserved, and Edinburgh Caledonia held on for the victory which ultimately takes them through to the third round.

In a hugely