and Mauchline F.C., the club found that the arrival of the Scottish League and the legalization of professionalism meant that it could not compete with those from the larger towns of Kilmarnock and Ayr.
The game, at Hampden Park, ended 15–1 to the home side, Hurlford's goal coming late on from the only attack it had all match; the blame was put on players leaving their positions to join in futile attacks and getting caught on the break, and that the goalkeeper "seemed to fear instead of being anxious to repel the approach of the ball".
The replay at Boghead was played after a heavy snowfall, cleared from the pitch by the local unemployed, but the ground remained slippery, and, although the match went ahead, Dumbarton again only did so under protest.
Hurlford came from behind to win 2–1, but despite evidence "pro and con" the protest, a Scottish FA committee unanimously favoured the bigger club, to the extent that they ordered the second replay to take place again at Boghead.
[8] Hurlford did put in a counter-protest but the Scottish FA conveniently postponed the hearing until after the semi-final,[9] which Dumbarton won, so the protest was dismissed by 14 votes to 4.
in 1888, although this was due to Ayr fielding a 'scratch' team, with the first XI playing a more lucrative friendly in England;[12] after 1891, the club struggled to get through the qualifying rounds.
The first win was in 1887, the "hardy tykes" of Hurlford - the club known for having smaller, faster players - beating the "rather brilliant but comparatively new" Kilbirnie F.C.
[14] Kilbirnie gained revenge the following season, at the same venue, helped by having the majority of the crowd behind it,[15] but in 1889 the club beat Ayr F.C.
2–1 at Holm Quarry in front of 5,000 spectators,[17] but in the 20th century the competition lost its lustre, as the Scottish League teams started to enter reserve sides instead.
The club remained members of the Scottish Football Association until August 1924, when the SFA struck Hurlford from the membership list.