Helensburgh FC went out of the Thomson Trophy despite beating Lochaber Thistle 6-3 in the second leg of their tie on Saturday.

The home side knew they had a mountain to climb after a 5-1 reverse in the first leg a few weeks into the new season.

They started off on the front foot and hopes were raised of a shock result when Sinclair put them in front early on.

Spurred on by this early goal they pushed high up the park, but were caught out when a long ball evaded the defence and the visitors levelled.

Once again though the local team stuck to their task and Brooks Tadlock once again gave them the lead after a well taken shot left the keeper helpless.

The visiting team were determined to keep themselves in the tie and they once again equalised.

The home side, playing some swift attacking football, had a few chances to score before the break, but couldn't break down a stubborn defence, however Steve Kirk did find the net just before the whistle to send the home side into the break 3-2 in front.

With a three goal deficit to make up the Helensburgh lads threw everything into the last 45 minutes. Their hopes were raised when the visitors went down to 10 men after a sending off.

The extra man the home team now had proved beneficial, and it wasn't long before Kirk made it four.

Chance after chance were falling the home side's way, and it was no surprise when Dale Walker found the net with the fifth goal.

With only one goal to get to take the game into an extra period, they hammered at the Lochaber defence but the visitors held still.

With 10 minutes left number six arrived when Russell Makeham slammed the ball into the net from a Sinclair cut back.

The sides were now level on aggregate and with the home side having an extra man it looked as if it was bound for extra time.

But with five minutes left the Burgh team fell asleep and allowed the Lochaber player to skip past three tackles before his shot took a deflection and flew into the net.

It was a heartbreaking end for a team that had worked its socks off and despite a couple of near misses they just couldn't find that other goal.

Manager Sam Gemmell was delighted with the way they played but shared the disappointment of losing the tie overall.

He said: "The damage was done in the first leg of the tie as the had a very depleted squad due to personnel being away.

"But we now have everyone back, and that's now three convincing wins on the bounce, which hopefully augurs well for the next few weeks."

Helensburgh FC would like to thank Davie Boxall, owner of Fusebox Electrical, for his help on Saturday with the team

Squad: Gemmell, Bailey, MacNeil, Makeham, Black, Rowe, Meader, Tadlock, Kirk, Fagin, Martin, McKerron, Sinclair, Walker