ARDENCAPLE bounced back from their midweek deafeat in the league to record a hard fought win in their Scottish Cup first round at home to Lenzie YC.

Right from the kick off it was clear this was going to be a tough tie as the two midfields battled to gain the upper hand. Ardencaple were finding it hard to retain possession early on due to some poor decision making and wasteful passing which was to be punished when Lenzie opened the scoring.

This spurred Ardencaple into action and they started to gain control in the middle of the pitch and put pressure on the oppositions back four. This was rewarded with a goal when a great free kick delivered into the box by Robbie Livingston was headed home by Liam Robson.

As the evenly matched first half was nearing an end, a loose ball in the box fell to Daniel Brick who slotted home from close range to see Ardencaple go in 2-1 up at the break.

Lenzie started the better team in the second half and equalised after a defensive mix up which saw the ball fall to their forward who slotted the ball home.

Both teams battled to find a way to break the deadlock and it was Ardencaple who were finally rewarded for their efforts when pressure from Craig Andrews led to a back pass being missed by the Lenzie keeper, who watched helplessly as the ball rolled into the net to make it 3-2 to Ardencaple.

Lenzie had to push for an equaliser which stretched the game and allowed Ardencaple to play on the counter attack. It was another great cross from Robbie Livingston on the right which found Jack Ward who neatly volleyed home at the back post.

Ardencaple continued to find space in behind the Lenzie back four as they pushed higher up the pitch and a great run from Liam Kavanagh late on saw him neatly side step the defender before calmly slotting the ball home to finish the scoring at 5-2.