MARK CAMERON heaped lavish praise on his Arthurlie players after an action-packed 4-2 Scottish Citylink Cup victory over Cumnock.

But only after his side had put him through the wringer over a nerve-wracking second half.

Yet the man known as Branco would not hear a word said against his battling Lie stars.

Instead he hailed the never-say-die attitude shown by his charges during a scintillating second-round cup tie against the Ayrshire club in which they were reduced to nine men at the end..

Branco said: "The battling spirit shown by the guys has been phenomenal at times, but none more so than today.

"Nobody gave us a hope when the game was tied 2-2 and we were down to just nine men with fully half an hour still to play, but the response from the players was nothing short of magnificent.

"They dug deep and somehow found reserves of energy that made it look like we were the team with the extra men over the closing stages.

"Yes, we had a few scary moments, but if truth be told I'd have been disappointed had we not won the game."

There was no indication of the drama set to unfold when Arthurlie emerged into glorious Barrhead sunshine and got away to a storming start.

Nine minutes in and they were a goal to the good after Craig Malcolm did well to gather a through ball almost on the byeline before squaring for Sean Winter to net from close range.

Things got even better just after the quarter of an hour mark when a Lee Sharp corner was glanced on by ex-Cumnock ace John McLay, and Malcolm headed home despite Craig Potter's despairing attempt to keep the ball out.

The Nock goalkeeper then proceeded to keep his team in the hunt with a string of defiant stops to foil a rampant Arthurlie. But even more of a helping hand was to come from referee Kevin Clancey approaching half time.

James Lundie's foul on Nock striker Brian Felvus seemed fairly innocuous to everyone except the whistler, who deemed it a "last man" challenge and brandished a red card at the seething defender.

Buoyed by this stroke of good fortune - and Campbell Money's half-time pep talk - the visitors adopted a far more aggressive approach upon the resumption that saw them pull a goal back almost immediately when Craig Menzies rifled in a 20-yard shot.

Cumnock continued to press forward and were doubly rewarded on the hour mark as Lie stopper Craig Higgins' tackle on Rhys Gallow was adjudged a penalty kick, which was duly slotted away by Graham Wilson for 2-2.

But not before Mr Clancey sparked even more fury within the home ranks by showing Higgins his second yellow card of the match, reducing Arthurlie to nine men. Cumnock, now on the ascendancy, went looking for a killer third goal.

But all their efforts came to no avail thanks to Lie No.1 Peter Shaw making superb saving stops from a Wilson header and a Darren Henderson rocket shot.

In between these two near things, Cameron made what proved to be an inspired substitution in replacing a tiring George Wallace with Stephen Hagi' Anderson.

The newcomer went on to have a stunning impact on affairs, on the back of another controversial dismissal in 79 minutes, when tidy full back Menzies was harshly red carded following a midfield clash with John Johnston.

The red card knocked Cumnock out of their stride and they fell 3-2 behind just 60 seconds later after Winter's fierce shot was blocked by Potter, only for substitute Anderson to smash home the rebound from barely a yard out.

And the jubilant substitute was celebrating again shortly afterwards when he strode into the box to adroitly steer the ball past Potter with the outside of his right foot for a 4-2 final scoreline.

Hagi said: "It was a great feeling to score, particularly as those were my first goals since joining Arthurlie and I just hope there's plenty more to come."

Honest to a fault Nock boss Money admitted afterwards: "To my mind the game turned on a couple of wrong red card decisions.

"We only got back into the game because Lundie walked, but would never have lost if not for young Craig's dismissal." McGinty strikes to knock holders out early

THE exit of Cumnock, last season's beaten Scottish Cup finalists was a shock... but a bigger one was to follow.

Citylink Cup holders Bathgate Thistle, 2-0 ahead and coasting at the halfway stage against Irvine Meadow, went down 3-2 after feted Medda front man Brian McGinty bagged a superb hat trick in five minutes of a sensational second half.

Highest scores of the day came in the north of Glasgow, where Craig Smith - with a hat trick - top scored for Ashfield in a 10-0 demolition of hopelessly outclassed Whitehills, while every bit as much of a rout occurred at Lochburn Park where Maryhill won 9-0 against Forfar Albion, helped to a large extent by striker Willie Sawyers bagging five goals.

Outdone in the scoring stakes, but still through to the next round are Petershill, for whom Michael Keenan, Robert McPhee, James Coulter and Kierion McAleenan were on target in a 4-0 triumph over Oakley.

Clubs on the other side of the city also did well with Paul Craig (3) and John Boyle doing the damage in Benburb's 4-1 defeat of Banchory St Tiernans.

While on the road, Pollok won 2-0 at Culter thanks to Davie Turnbull and Bryan Dingwall counters.

Meanwhile, living to fight another day are St Anthony's, who had a Thomas Miller score to thank for a 1-1 McKenna Park tie against Irvine Vics.