Kelty Hearts 3 Dalbeattie Star 1

William Hill Scottish Cup

ELATED Thomas Courts heaped praise on his “free-flowing” Kelty Hearts stars after they earned a crack at SPFL opposition in the Scottish Cup.

The New Central Park side, inspired by a stunning goal by Stuart Cargill, saw off Dalbeattie Star in their first round replay on Saturday to progress to the second round for the first time.

They now play Peterhead, currently second in League Two, and Courts is dreaming of an upset.

“Hopefully the romance of the Scottish Cup can produce a fairytale for us, or it will give Peterhead the opportunity to progress further in the cup,” he said.

“We will give them the respect they deserve as a team who are one of the fancied teams in League Two, but it is a great opportunity for us.

We prepared all week to be in the next round, and we knew that we had the quality and experience, but it was all about delivering on the day.

"It couldn’t have gone much better on or off the park. It is really something to savour.”

After a 0-0 draw in the first match, Kelty made a flying start after just four minutes when Cargill produced a moment of magic to net his 15th goal of the season.

Heading on a clearance out of defence, he got the better of his marker to latch on to the ball before unleashing a stunning shot from around 25 yards that flew beyond the helpless Star goalkeeper and into the net.

It was a goal fit for the final itself and the hosts set about killing the tie. On the stroke of half-time, Brian Ritchie rose to head home from Conrad Courts’ corner, before Stephen Husband’s classy finish after Ritchie sent him clear on goal made it 3-0.

Although Lewis Todd grabbed a consolation for the visitors after goalkeeper Scott Christie and full-back Courts got themselves into a muddle, Kelty marched on in their boss’ 202nd game in charge.

“It was a unique situation for us to accept a draw and bring them back home,” Courts continued. “We knew it would give us a slight advantage coming back to Kelty.

“Away from home we were very disciplined, but at home we set up to be more like our free-flowing selves, and that’s how it worked out. Right from the start, we were in the ascendancy and created lots of chances. I thought 3-1 was an accurate reflection of the game.”

On Cargill’s goal, he added: “When he’s finished playing, he’ll need to look at compiling a DVD of some of his best moments. It was a spectacular strike.

“Once he scores that first class goal, from start to finish we were outstanding. It was a squad performance; there are a few guys who would love more game time, but everyone’s pushing towards a common goal.

“Everyone is fighting for starts and game time, which is good because it ensures that there’s no complacency creeping in. We recognise that we are of a calibre to compete (in the league), but we also recognise that other teams are more experienced.”

Kelty thumped Civil Service Strollers 4-0 last night and are on their travels on Saturday with an away day at Gretna.