Johnstone Burgh fought their way into the final of the Scottish Junior Cup, with a brilliant 2-0 victory at Largs Thistle.

Burgh had it all to do, having lost the first leg 1-0. And, like the first leg, Burgh started strongly looking for an early goal. The difference this time, though, is that we succeeded in our quest to take the lead early on.

The match got off to a feisty start, with both sides picking up a booking within the first 10 minutes.

In the 14th minute, we saw the first shot of the match. After Conor Bradley had failed to control a clearance by Allan MacKenzie, Ciaran Diver nipped in front of him to steal the ball on the half way line. Diver then ran at Cory Hughes and got past him easily, leaving the Burgh striker one on one the Largs keeper. Diver hit it beautifully with the outside of his foot, beating the keeper and giving Burgh the lead on the day, and levelling the score on aggregate.

A minute later, Kian Gilday found himself in acres of space on the left. As he was closed down, he played the ball into the box for either MacKenzie or Diver, both of whom were waiting for the pass, but Gilday's pass was slightly overhit and it ran through to Cowie in the Largs goal.

It wasn't until the 22nd minute that the hosts registered their first attempt of the match. Some good passing and movement allowed the home side to break away from the corner flag and bring the ball infield. It was worked to Will Sewell but the Thistle dangerman dragged his shot well wide, not troubling Luke Scullion.

In the 24th minute Largs countered a Burgh attack and Blair Devine flung himself to the ground in an attempt to win a free kick, but the free kick was given to the visitors with Devine, rightfully, booked for his dive.

With 11 minutes to play before the break, Burgh came closing to going 2-0 up. Aaron Mason made a powerful run down the left before playing a low cross into the box. Both Max Kerr and MacKenzie had efforts, but both were denied by defenders at point blank range.

With half time approaching, the home side were going in search of the goal that would regain their aggregate advantage. However, the Burgh defence was ouststanding, dealing with everything thrown at them and not allowing the hosts to even have a shot.

Both sides were pressing for the next goal, but neither side was coming close. Thistle managed their first shot on target in the 57th minute, when Sewell hit a tame strike from 18 yards and Luke Scullion made his first save of the match.

On the hour mark, MacKenzie spotted Cowie off his line and went for the lob but unfortunately he got too much on it and the effort went wide.

Burgh were denied a clear penalty in the 68th minute. Diver and Cowie both attempted to win a bouncing ball. Cowie collected the ball but, in the process of doing so, kneed Diver in the chin, which saw the striker leave the pitch to get his bloodied chin treated.

In the 76th minute, Diver had a chance to double our lead after Kyle Lafferty had played a superb throughball, but Diver's first touch took a little wide and he ended up hitting his shot off balance and off target.

Just three minutes later, and Diver was through again. He'd cut inside onto his favoured left foot. And with everyone expecting him to shoot, he squared it, unselfishly, to Aaron Mason whose sweeping first-time strike went into the bottom corner sparking jubilant scenes from the visiting players, staff and fans.

With six minutes remaining, the hosts almost scored a goal that would've taken the game to penalties. Stuart Faulds lifted the ball into the box and Devine beat Mullen in the air but his header bounced back off the bar and David McGrath got to the rebound first but his header looped up and resulted in Scullion gathering the ball comfortably.

For the first time in the game, Largs were starting to put some pressure on us as they searched for a goal to even the tie. A couple of minutes later, Sewell struck from the edge of the box but dragged his shot well wide.

There was one final half chance, again falling to Sewell. He appeared to be in two minds whether to cross or shoot and in the end overhit his cross out of play for a goal kick.

Half Time: 0-1 (1-1 agg)

Full Time: 0-2 (1-2 agg)

Goals: Diver (14), Mason (79)

Starting XI (subs): Scullion, Mullen, Eadie, O'Neill, Esplin (C), Mason, McDonald, Diver, MacKenzie (Lafferty 71), Kerr (S McCann 59)

Man Of The Match: Ciaran Diver

Thank you to everyone who turned out to support us yesterday. Your support all season has been fantastic and we look forward to seeing you all on Sunday 1st June at Broadwood for the final, where we'll face Lowland League side Tranent Juniors.

Below, is a selection of photos from yesterday's match courtesy of Graham and Mitch. More images can be found here. (we'll also be publishing a separate page with images from the aftermath and celebrations from yesterday's win)