Youthful Dalbeattie Star side suffer heavy defeat to Gretna 2008

A youthful Dalbeattie Star side were put to the sword by Gretna 2008 in the Utility Hut South of Scotland Challenge Cup on Saturday.

The Lowland League strugglers hosted the South of Scotland League title challengers at Raydale Park.

And it was Gretna who ran out 6-1 winners.

David Cox put them in front with Liam Short making it 2-0 before half-time.

Ronan Kearney got the third 10 minutes into the second half before Olly Meechan pulled one back for Star.

But there was no stopping Gretna as Cameron Mulvanny quickly restored the three-goal lead.

Tuacenio dos Santos made it 5-1 before Juliane Kouame rounded off the scoring.

Star boss Eddie Warwick said: “I actually quite enjoyed it because there were nine changes. It shows the strength and depth in the squad, the youth we have at the club and what this two or three year project is all about.

“We put seven players under 20 on the pitch. We knew it would be incredibly tough in normal circumstances, then to make all the changes we knew would make it even harder.

“Fair play to Gretna, they played some nice stuff, they’re through and that’s the most important thing.

“For us it was all about development and we’ve got what we wanted out of it. We wanted boys playing at a certain level to see if they were up to it and there were a few passmarks.

“We’re never pleased when we get beaten but we’re very pleased from what we were trying to do.”

Star face Creetown in the South of Scotland league title decider on Wednesday night.