Yoker crashed out of the Central League Cup on Thursday following a 3-1 semi-final defeat at the hands of Blantyre Victoria.

David Crerand’s goal was wasn’t enough as strikes from Blantyre’s David Galt, Mark Thomson and Frazier Malcolm gave Davie Greig’s side the win and their third cup final place of the season.

It was clear that Yoker’s team was slightly weakened ahead of the match, the absence of Craig Winslow, their regular standout goalkeeper, was a hard one to take for Whe Ho.

Yoker started off the brighter side with John Harvey and David Crerand testing Paddy Macklin early on, with efforts from outside the box.

It was Blantyre who took the lead though. Following a good initial save by backup goalkeeper Lewis Elliot-Williamson, the ball fell to striker David Galt who managed to slot the ball into an open net to put The Vics into the lead.

Blantyre almost made it two shortly after. The ball was played through and Frazier Malcolm broke free and fired a low shot towards goal but a strong save by Elliot-Williamson kept the score down and prevented the goal.

On the stroke of half-time Yoker drew level. A corner was played into the front post and Crerand was on hand to power a header into the bottom corner.

The first half was then brought to a close, Yoker had given themselves a lifeline.

Blantyre started the second half strongly and almost took the lead a few minutes in.

Mark Thomson struck the ball from a free kick, around 30 yards from goal, forcing Elliot-Williamson to acrobatically dive and save – for a goalkeeper low on confidence, this must have been a boost.

The match was thrown into controversy around 10 minutes into the second half as Blantyre were awarded a penalty.

Steven Reilly was adjudged to have handballed in the box and Thomson was on hand to fire the ball into the left hand corner.

The final chance of the match resulted in another goal for Blantyre, sealing the match with 15 minutes to go.

Thomson played the ball through to Malcolm who slotted the ball into the bottom corner, ensuring his side’s progression to the final.

The match was then brought to a close and it was confirmed that Yoker would not participate in the final.

It brought an end to a mixed campaign for John McAulay’s side.

Yoker fans will be pleased with their runs in the cup competitions, particularly the Scottish Cup quarter-final appearance.

But will hope for a more comfortable league campaign next season after narrowly avoiding relegation from the Super League.