By Ben Kearney

Copyright falkirkherald

Callum Tapping expressed his delighted after watching his East Stirlingshire side progress in the South Challenge Cup last Saturday afternoon. The Shire edged out South of Scotland Football League leaders Dalbeattie Star at Ochilview to secure a spot in the third round of this year’s competition. And that victory was former player Tapping’s first at the helm after taking charge of the 4-2 away defeat at Broxburn Athletic on Scottish Lowland Football League duty the weekend previous. He told the Falkirk Herald: “The objective was to get through to the next round. That’s always how it goes for any cup match. Dalbeattie Star are a team that I knew pretty well beforehand and it was never going to be an easy game. When you look at how they’ve done so far this year, and the players that they’ve signed, then you can see that aren’t what you would probably expect going up against a South of Scotland team. They have scored a silly amount of goals and have some real threats. And it turned out to be a tough game. It was brilliant to win the match. It was great to get that first win with a clean sheet. What pleased me is that I saw some things that I have worked on with the group since coming in. We’ve had three sessions so far so that is good going. Parts of the jigsaw are coming together.” The Shire’s matchwinner against Dalbeattie was on-loan Ayr United ace Kenzie Mitchell – who is one of three Somerset Park youngsters at the club as part of a co-operation agreement with the Scottish Championship outfit. Tapping hailed the relationship between both teams, which also had previous success prior to the co-op system coming into play this season. “Pat (Scullion) did a great job to cultivate that relationship with Ayr United,” he said. “Previously, when I was playing for the Shire – young Ollie Ecrepont and Dylan Watret were both with us and they excelled. They’ve both improved as players thanks to being here and it will be the same for the Jamie (Hislop), Lucas (McRoberts) and Kenzie. They all complement each other really well and they are making an impact in games. The Lowland League is a great place to learn.” Tapping’s team now return to Lowland League action this Friday when they host table-toppers Linlithgow Rose. The visitors are a whopping 20 points ahead of second-bottom Shire having played one game less. Ahead of that clash, the boss previewed: “It will be difficult. Linlithgow have an experienced group. They are top for a reason. But we are a home, under the lights on a Friday night. It’s a local derby of sorts too. There’s lots of motivation outwith that stuff anyways, we want to grow and develop. The best way to do that is to pick up positive results.”