An “absolutely blistering” start for Dalbeattie Star almost counted for nothing against Newton Stewart.
The South of Scotland League champs were 2-0 up inside 10 minutes – only for the scores to be level just 10 minutes later.
But Star prevailed late on thanks to a goal from Cammy Shaw to set up a League Cup final date with Lochar Thistle.
Boss Eddie Warwick, said: “We made the cup final last year so we’re pleased to make it again.
“It was always going to be tough having back-to-back games with Newton Stewart.
“I thought our start was absolutely blistering – we had two chances on goal and two goals.
“You’re then looking for one to kill the game but it didn’t happen, we made a mistake, gave the ball away cheaply, didn’t clear our lines and they capitalised.
“That let them back into game and we’re disappointed as their heads were down. They had their tails up, a corner’s come in and we’ve not done our job again which is disappointing.
“There’s been chances at both ends and go in at half time thinking you potentially had the game won and you have to go and win the game again.
“The second half was very good, we controlled the game and controlled possession. The only real chance they had was in 90 minutes, we restricted them to very little and hemmed them in for large spells.
“I think it was thoroughly deserved in the end.”
Ross Hunter gave Star the lead inside the first couple of minutes, Connor Potts soon doubling the lead in spectacular style.
But Newton hit back almost immediately through Robert Middleton, then equalised with Jack Marshall scoring straight from a corner in a breathless opening 20 minutes.
After that things calmed down before Star grabbed a late winner thanks to a cross-come-shot from sub Cammy Shaw.
Although pleased to progress, Warwick was far from happy with how his side had squandered such a strong position.
He said: “It’s ridiculously poor, it’s basics that are totally unacceptable and I wasn’t happy with it.
“You have the ball in possession, no one is near you and you play it straight to a black and white jersey.
“Some of the players are young and need to learn from mistakes and fair play to Newton Stewart, they had two or three chances and punished us.
“If you don’t tidy up and are slack, you get punished.
“The game changed and became a tough, physical battle. We’ve proven we can do that but we want to get the ball down and get on the front foot.
“Thankfully we got over the line in a tough game and made the final.”
After back-to-back cup wins over Newton, Star have yet another cup game this weekend.
This time they head to Sanquhar to face South of Scotland League leaders Nithsdale Wanderers in the Haig Gordon Cup.
Warwick said: “It’ll be a very tough game, Nithsdale are still going really well.
“They’re a good team and it’ll be another physical battle, especially on a tighter pitch.
“To take their scalp two weeks in a row in two cups is big, it tells me we’re starting to move and turn the corner.”