Holders Glenavon dumped out of cup

Glenavon's Simon Kelly tries to win the ball during the cup clash at Tillysburn Park.

Rainey struck the opening goal on 11 minutes to give the Championship One side a massive lift and the Lurgan Blues could find no way back and ended up suffering an embarrassing exit.

This was a poor display from Glenavon and over the 90 minutes the Welders deserved their spot in the limelight and a place in the next round.

It all could have been so different as an early chance fell to Conor Dillon on three minutes but he skied the ball over the bar from a few yards out. An away goal then and certainly would have knocked the confidence out of the home side. Just before than Kyle Neill had brought a fine save out of goalkeeper Michael Dougherty.

However, the gameplan to curb the enthusiasm out of the home side was torn to shreds when Rainey was left free at the back post to guide a header past James McGrath.

Glenavon tried to respond quickly and a combination of Declan O’Brien and Kevin Braniff set Ciaran Caldwell free on the right but his low cross was cleared in the nick of time.

The away side kept pressing but all too often the long ball from the Welders on the counter was proving difficult to marshall.

Kyle Neill was forced to retire with Mark Patton coming off the bench and he almost found a way back on 33 minutes with a firmly struck shot which was blocked.

Two minutes later the best chance of an equaliser in the half came when O’Brien’s header came back off the post and when the ball was forced over the line the flag was up for offside.

The second half saw McGrath keep the Lurgan Blues in it as he denied McLellan from making it 2-0.

On 54 minutes it should have been all square when O’Brien set up Martyn but his shot lacked any power to trouble the keeper.

Then Patton ended a sustained period of Glenavon pressure with a well struck shot but Dougherty got down well to smother the ball.

A double substitution saw Eoin Bradley and Rhys Marshall come off the bench for Simon Kelly and Caldwell, but it was the Welders who found the net again on 74 minutes. Dillon went crashing to the ground in the middle of the park, the Welders broke 4 on 1 and when the ball was played to Scott Davidson he made no mistake.

Glenavon’s cup run was over, full credit to the home side, but a poor effort all round from the Premiership side.

Glenavon: McGrath, McKeown, Neill, Kelly, Dillon, Caldwell, Braniff, McCabe, Martyn, Singleton.

Subs: Murphy, Bradley, Patton, McGrory, Marshall.