Anvils up for cup

FOUR second half goals from on form striker Sean McKenzie helped the Anvils earn a spot in the third round of the South Challenge Cup. Gretna beat Newmains 4-1 at Raydale Park in the second round of the prestigious Scottish non-league competition. All five goals came in the second period of the encounter, with the first half being labelled ‘frustrating’ by assistant gaffer Kevin Somerville. Speaking to club media, he said: “It was a slightly frustrating first half. Credit to Newmains – I thought they were excellent. They caused us a threat in behind. “We were a bit tentative on the ball and we weren’t moving it quick enough. “At halftime we reminded the boys that we had to move the ball a bit quicker and be more aggressive when we didn’t have the ball. “I thought the guys reacted very well in the second half, and credit to them for that. “All in all it was a pretty pleasing outcome.” On the scorer of all four Gretna goals, Somerville added: “(Sean’s) attitude has been absolutely first class. In every game he’s worked hard but, by his own admissions, he’s been a bit frustrated in front of goal and he’s missed a few opportunities he would like to have scored. “Today I think he made up for that. I think he had five chances and he put four away, so it was a pretty clinical performance from him.” Gretna return to Lowland League duty this weekend with a game away to Cowdenbeath. Boosted by their cup victory, Somerville hopes the Anvils can get their league campaign up and running following a poor run of form. He said: “It’s a tough place to go. A grass pitch, it’ll probably be quite heavy. Are we capable of getting points? Absolutely. “We need to make sure we’re sound defensively and we’re brave on the ball. “I think we can take points off of most of the teams in the league but we just need to get the level of performance right to do that.”