East Lothian Courier | Sport | Juniors round-up: Burgh get new year off to a flier

Saturday, 30th August, 2008

Published: Friday, 11th January, 2008 09:30

Juniors round-up: Burgh get new year off to a flier

Print Article

Musselburgh Atheltic 3, Rosyth Juniors 1

MIDWEEK snow had a serious impact on Saturday’s juniors card with only one of the county clubs in action on the first weekend of 2008.

Musselburgh Athletic kept themselves in the frame for Premier League promotion with a solid, if unremarkable, 3-1 victory at Olive Bank against relegation-threatened Rosyth Juniors.

Dunbar United’s New Countess Park wasn’t up to hosting their scheduled league match, and in West Lothian the pitches at Blackburn United and Livingston United also succumbed to bad weather.

A late postponement meant it was a wasted journey for Haddington Athletic to Blackburn, while Tranent Juniors at least didn’t have to travel.

In the Premier League tomorrow (Saturday) Musselburgh have a huge game away to leaders Forfar West End.

The South Division’s top fixture pits fourth against second when Haddington visit Fauldhouse United. Dunbar travel to face Harthill Royal and Tranent are at West Calder – the same fixtures wiped out by the weather on December 22. Kick-offs 1.45pm.

Musselburgh Atheltic 3, Rosyth Juniors 1

BURGH welcomed in the new year with a vital win over Rosyth thanks to a double strike from top scorer Chris King and another from Paul Currie.

Three changes to the home line-up saw Andy Porteous replace Martin Murphy in midfield and King returned from suspension, while Paul Tansey began his own ban.

Rosyth started brightly and tested Burgh keeper Ronnie McPherson early on, but Davie McGlynn’s men soon asserted themselves and on a saturated pitch and played the fine flowing football which Olive Bank supporters regularly witness.

Danny Kelly came close to finding the net for the home side, but he dragged his shot just wide following a superb move involving King, Paul Currie and CJ Osazuwa.

The visitors’ tendency to question refereeing decisions didn’t endear them to the match official and they suffered the consequences on 22 minutes when midfielder Gratton, already booked for dissent, saw red after he clattered into Craig McManus.

Within three minutes Musselburgh took advantage of their numerical superiority when King beat the offside trap after collecting a ball from Wes Mitchell out of defence and showed excellent finishing technique to slot home the opener.

Burgh looked comfortable following the goal, but they were rocked five minutes before the interval when the referee pointed to the spot after he adjudged Daryl Johnston to have handled inside his own penalty area.

Despite the protests from the Burgh players, Rosyth’s veteran skipper Bain kept his head to level the match.

King restored the home lead two minutes later, however, with a goal very similar to his first when he latched on to a long ball, which was missed by the visiting defence, and struck with another fine finish from 16 yards to hand Burgh a half-time lead.

The early stages of the second half saw the home side exert considerable pressure on the Rosyth defence forcing seven corners in a matter of minutes, but they were unable unable to extend the lead.

Changes up front saw King and Osazuwa depart in favour of Brian Murray and Ross Barnes, and the former soon came close with a shot which flew narrowly wide soon afterwards.

But the game was made safe with 20 minutes remaining after Dean Woods was tripped in the Fifers’ box and Currie stepped up to bury the penalty.

The injured Woods was then replaced by Davie Turnbull, who returned after three months out.

Musselburgh now face two crucial games in succession with a trip to league leaders Forfar West End before the fourth round Scottish Cup tie against Kirkintilloch Rob Roy at home.

HADDINGTON

HI-HI manager George Bowmaker took his side to West Lothian to face Blackburn seeking only their second win in 10 games and desperate for points to maintain an interest in the promotion race in the second half of the season.

Reports following last week’s snowfall indicated that the match at Murrayfield Park was a near certainty to be postponed, but the subsequent thaw led to the pitch unexpectedly passing a Saturday morning pitch inspection.

Blackburn have hauled themselves up the table with a good run recently and it looked sure to be a tough contest.

But the heavens opened as the Haddington side made their way to the ground, and the referee called the match off following another pitch inspection at 1pm.

Fauldhouse United provide the opposition tomorrow, with West Lothian once again the setting, and the Hi-Hi could be boosted with the return of midfielder Lukasz Rusin.

His loan spell with Brechin City has ended and the Angus club has opted not to sign the player permanently.

Fauldhouse were knocked off the top of the table last week when Broxburn Athletic won one of the few games to go ahead.

DUNBAR

DUNBAR boss Jock Landells was left cursing the weather as his confident side looked to extend their good run against an unpredicitable Pumpherston Juniors at home on Saturday.

A Saturday morning inspection at New Countess Park saw the Seasiders’ South Division fixture against the West Lothian outfit postponed on account of a waterlogged pitch, which denied them the chance to leap into top spot alongside Broxburn.

Dunbar travel to take on Harthill Royal for the first time this season. Harthill are also well-placed in the race for Premier League football next year, but were held to a draw at home last week by Edinburgh United.

TRANENT

TRANENT were left kicking their heels for a third successive Saturday when their scheduled match away to Livingston United at Station Park was another match called off due to the winter weather.

Belters Tranent boss Stevie McLeish and his players have been left frustrated at their unavoidable lay-off and will be eager to get back in action this weekend if the weather is kind to them.

They are due to travel to face West Calder United. The sides have yet to meet this season and it could be close, with West Calder a fairly unpredictable outfit.

The game was postponed back in December, although Burngrange Park surprisingly proved playable last week.

Social Bookmarking What are these?