BEITH turned the tables on Greenock last night, with an exact reversal of the result when the sides met at Ravenscraig just a month ago.

After winning the toss, Greenock elected to shoot uphill in the first half, conceding the advantage of the significant slope at Bellsdale Park to the home side.

And it was Beith who raced out of the blocks, forcing Greenock keeper Mark Monk into two early saves.

John Carter then came desperately close for Greenock with a header which hit the bar, as his team were more than holding their own against their promotion-chasing opponents.

But Beith made the breakthrough with seven minutes of the half remaining, when the Greenock defence failed to properly clear the ball, and Andy Reid pounced to slam it home from 20 yards.

Greenock’s plan of capitalising on the slope in the second half went awry just 10 minutes into it, when danger man Reid scored again for Beith, with a simple tap-in from a few yards out following a scramble in the box after a corner kick.

The absence of the unavailable Tam Jamieson meant there was to be no reunion of the Greenock skipper with Beith striker Kenny McLean, who had served his three-match ban for head-butting the Greenock man in the earlier Ravenscraig match.

And McLean should have put the issue beyond doubt on 65 minutes, but somehow blasted the ball over the bar from close range.

Greenock pressed hard to get back into the match, and were unlucky when a Docherty effort came back off the post.

And their evening ended on a sour note, with a late red card for Jamie McKenna for comments to referee Calum Haswell.

Greenock: Monk, Orr, Doherty, Begley, Irvine, Williams, (McKenna 57), Downie, Kearns (Boyd 75), Carter, A. Docherty, McKay (Gillan 75). Sub not used: L. Docherty.

l Greenock Juniors are sponsored by SAVEHEAT, and the Lighthouse Bar.