Dalbeattie Star beat Dumfries thanks to "piece of absolute brilliance"

A “piece of absolute brilliance” saw Dalbeattie Star through to the semi-finals of the Cree Lodge Cup on Saturday.

Eddie Warwick’s side were drawing with Stranraer before a 35-yard free-kick from Declan Rogerson put them into the lead 15 minutes from time.

Warwick said: “I’ve seen many top goals but I’d struggle to find one better than this.

“It was a piece of absolute brilliance, it was sublime, right into the top postage stamp.“

Star had led at the break thanks to a tremendous individual Connor Potts goal.

Owen Sutherland equalised in the second half before Rogerson’s decisive moment of magic.

Warwick said: “The boys showed character to dig in. It could have gone wrong at 1-1 as they got their tails up. It got a bit aggressive and it asked questions of boys who haven’t played for a while.

“It was an outstanding individual goal from Connor Potts – only he on that pitch could do that. After that I felt we never really killed the game.

“Stranraer weren’t there to make it easy for us. It was a mistake for their goal but I could see it coming because the longer it stays at 1-0 and you’re not clinical, then you can get hit by a sucker punch.

“It lifted their tails for five minutes but after our goal we dominated, kept the ball and weren’t under pressure.

“It’s the third semi-final we’ve made it to in the last few weeks. We’ve had three tough away ties at Stranraer, Abbey Vale and Uppers and we’ve come through all three.”

During the cup games, Star have been changing their team to give players match practice and boost fitness levels.

However, they’ll be back to the strongest possible side on Saturday when Creetown come to Islecroft.

The two sides are separated in the Utility Hut South of Scotland