Mick Kennedy heaped praise on Reegan Mimnaugh after his superb opener sent East Kilbride on the road to stunning League Two Bonnyrigg Rose in the Scottish Cup.
The Kilby gaffer watched his side reach the third round with a 3-1 win over Rose at K-Park on Saturday, where the hosts finished with 10 men after Jordan McGregor’s late red card.
John Robertson netted from the penalty spot after 82 minutes and Steven Boyd netted an 87th minute clincher in the clash after Rose had equalised in 59 minutes through Cameron Ross.
That has set up a tasty tie at home to Championship frontrunners Falkirk next month and Kennedy was delighted to see midfielder Mimnaugh rediscover the form that has seen him play at the top level with Hamilton Accies in recent years.
Kennedy said: “The last three or four weeks Reegan has got back to full fitness and you can see the standard in the level of play.
“I don’t think Reegan is somebody we would have managed to bring in if it wasn’t for his circumstances of coming back from a long-term injury.
“I appreciate we won’t have him for long so we have to enjoy him as long as we can, and reap the benefits of that while we can.
“He was excellent and it was an exceptional finish from him as well, but that is the level we know he can reach.
“We are delighted to be in the next round. I was really happy with the performance and I thought we were excellent.
“We thoroughly deserved to win the game. We gave a goal away with a really bad error from Jordan McGregor, but other than that we were good and well worth the win.
“It was two bookings for Jordan and they were probably merited, to be honest, so there’s no complaints from us on the red card.
“We were really dominant against a really strong, physical, well-organised League Two club, so I’m delighted.”
Last night, EK defeated Largs Thistle 1-0 in the third round of the South Challenge Cup thanks to a late Steven Boyd goal.
They now travel to Linlithgow Rose on Saturday, sitting one point off of Lowland League leaders Caledonian Braves with a game in hand.
Kennedy added: “It is a tough game for us and Linlithgow is one of the most difficult away grounds in the league.
“They are on a reasonably good run and I think they will be similar to Bonnyrigg, really well-organised and really well coached, but we are really looking forward to it.
“It’s a big week ahead and we are starting to get one or two players back from injury. Nathan Flanagan should be back after an issue with his hamstring and Chris Trusedale is coming back after his operation at the start of the season.
“In another week, we will probably have a few more back.”