Shotts boss John McKeown insists Scottish Junior Cup progress was the target, but was left needing a 7-6 penalty shoot-out win after a 2-2 draw against 10-man Beith.
McKeown felt his side should have been well ahead in the third round tie, with Chris Kelly levelling for the hosts before Paul McGeough put them ahead, only for Beith to nab an 87th-minute equaliser.
However, they’re through to a fourth-round tie at home to Arthurlie in December, and McKeown says that’s all that matters.
He said: “I’m delighted, to go and beat a Premier team is excellent and the boys were smashing, and really deserved it as well.
“The boys have been decent, they’ve hit a good bit of form, and to beat one of the top teams at our level was really pleasing.
“I felt we dominated the first half, in all honesty, and deserved to be ahead at half-time.
“We played some lovely football, caused Beith a lot of problems, and in the second half we took the lead.
“I felt we probably deserved to win by about four by the end of the 90 minutes.
“But we switched off in the last couple of minutes and allowed them to take it to penalties. They’re a good side and they’ll punish you if you give them a chance, but overall I feel we deserved to progress.”
McKeown added: “The shoot-out was a tough watch, but the standard of our penalties were excellent, so we’re just delighted to get through.
“We want to get as far as we can, but we have another Premier team to play in Arthurlie in the next round.
“They ran away with our league last season and beat us twice, so we’ll need to be on our best form when we play them in December. We’re looking forward to it and hopefully we’ll have a clean bill of health by the time the tie comes around.”
Shotts now turn their attention to a West of Scotland League First Division clash at Johnstone Burgh on Saturday, and McKeown expects another tough test.
He said: “We go in with confidence but it will be a tough one. Johnstone Burgh started the season flying, they’re well organised and they’re a young team who play good football.
“But we’re on a good bit of form, so we need to go in there with our heads up and go for it.
“I think we’ve won six out of seven, now, so that’s a good bit of form and we need to keep that going.”
Follow Lanarkshire Live Sport on Twitter via @LanLiveSport, like us on Facebook or find us on Instagram for the latest sports news, pictures and video.
