Club banks on first division side for cup | Oamaru Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Oamaru

The South Canterbury Cup hopes of Meadowbank United will rest on the division one side as their second XI slumped to a 4-0 loss against Pleasant Point B on Saturday.

The second division league champions had hopes of making into the Cup quarterfinals after they were drawn with the Point B side, but they were outclassed in the away fixture. They now drop to the plate competition this Saturday with the rest of the first-round losers.

But the light still burns for the club, with the first XI putting an end to West End A's Cup ambitions in a 4-1 victory at the Showgrounds.

It was a confident performance by the Bank, typified in Lou Keleman's goal from close range in the opening five minutes.

Their domination was put on hold slightly though, as keeper Phil Collings was yellow-carded after the referee ruled he had fallen dangerously on the West End player while claiming an aerial ball.

The ensuing penalty by West End's Kenny Cox levelled the scores at 1-1 after 15 minutes, but Meadowbank reclaimed their advantage through an Andy Lane penalty (23 minutes) after Keleman was taken down in the 18-yard box.

Keleman and Lane went on to bag their doubles before the half, thanks to the threatening width employed by Aubrey Martin and Marc McGregor.

The second half was a shambles with poor decision-making from the referee as well as a lack of focus with the game pretty much in the bag for Meadowbank.

Player/coach Collings said Meadowbank planned to tire West End into submission after the break.

"We wanted to run the West End guys around because a lot of their older guys were in defence so if we could tire them out there, then we believed we could score."

With a quarter to play, Meadowbank's captain Simon Willetts was sent from the field after calmly telling the referee he needed to get control of the game following a rough tackle.

Collings said he felt the card was not justified, pointing out that even the opposing West End captain questioned why Willetts had been sent off.

Willetts will now miss Meadowbank's Cup quarterfinal against Timaru Town and Country in Timaru on Saturday.

West End weren't able to capitalise on the advantage, failing to use the extra width and space in the final 20 minutes.

In the other Cup quarterfinals, Pleasant Point A face Thistle A in the match of the round, Timaru City A take on favourites Northern Hearts A, while Pleasant Point B play Geraldine/Temuka B.