East Lothian Courier | Sport | Juniors round-up: Two late goals deny Athletic cup glory

Monday, 8th September, 2008

Published: Thursday, 24th January, 2008 09:30

Juniors round-up: Two late goals deny Athletic cup glory

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Scottish Junior Cup: Musselburgh 2, Kirkintilloch Rob Roy 2

TEN-MAN Musselburgh Athletic looked set for the fifth round of the Scottish Junior Cup on Saturday until Kirkintilloch Rob Roy grabbed two late goals at Olive Bank to take the tie to a replay.

The dismissal of left-back Mark Quinn with 10 minutes remaining proved costly for Burgh and sides will battle it out again tomorrow (Saturday) in a replay following the 2-2 draw.

After the weather-related disruption of recent weeks most teams were back in action, but things didn’t go the way of Dunbar United nor Tranent Juniors in their first matches of 2008.

Dunbar went down 2-0 at home to Blackburn United, while Tranent’s trip to face Fauldhouse United saw them beaten 3-0.

All the county sides are away from home in tomorrow’s league games, with Dunbar travelling to Fauldhouse, Haddington Athletic face a tough test at Blackburn and Tranent are at Dalkeith Thistle. Kick-offs in league games is 1.45pm, while Musselburgh’s cup tie starts at 1.15pm.

A DEPLETED Musselburgh were coasting towards the fifth round of the Scottish Junior Cup until Mark Quinn was sent off for his second bookable offence and Rob Roy pulled back a two-goal deficit to deny the home side a deserved win.

Burgh are rarely involved in dull games and it proved to be the case again as the magic of the cup produced another cracking tie at Olive Bank.

Unfortunately for Burgh boss Davie McGlynn found himself denied the services of half a dozen players and was forced to field himself and striker Davie Turnbull as the only outfield substitutes for the crucial tie.

It took Musselburgh until the eighth minute to open the scoring after Rob Roy’s defence was posted missing as Chris King’s in-swinging corner came back off the post and Martin Murphy was on cue to stab the ball home from 10 yards.

Burgh’s defence was marshalled well by keeper Ronnie McPherson and centre-backs Wes Mitchell and Craig McManus. There was little threat from visitors in the first half.

Burgh doubled their lead three minutes after the break when Rob Roy’s defence failed to cope with a throw-in.

Murphy found Ross Barnes with space in the box and the striker’s first time volley flew past veteran keeper Thomson in the visitors’ goal.

There was little action at the Burgh goal until Quinn collected his second yellow on 80 minutes for a late challenge. Substitute Turnbull could have wrapped it up two minutes later when he only had the keeper to beat, but Thomson blocked his shot to keep his side in it.

The save proved vital as Zok pulled one back for Rob Roy with five minutes left when he converted a low cross from the right and Carberry sent the away fans into raptures with a finish from six yards – two minutes into injury time.

Tomorrow’s replay will see Musselburgh closer to full strength as several players who were missing on Saturday will now available.

Dunbar 0, Blackburn 2

DUNBAR returned to action after a three week lay-off with a disappointing South Division defeat to Blackburn at New Countess Park.

Home boss Jock Landells was without Graeme Nisbet, Mitch Faichney and Adam Cheetham for the match against one of the country’s form teams.

The opening stages were fairly even with just a few half chances at either end. Lee Docherty was proving Blackburn’s main threat, and he came close to the opener on 19 minutes when his free-kick flew just over.

Dunbar’s best chances of the first half came later, with a Paul Hampshire free-kick not far away and Colin McDonald chipped the ball just over the bar.

Seasiders keeper Stuart Ferrier also ensured it remained goalless at the break with a good save from Stewart.

It seemed likely that neither side would break the deadlock as both teams passed up the opportunities that came their way with Stevie Rixon and Hampshire shooting over for Dunbar.

Blackburn’s giant central defender Sean Brogan saw a lucky effort come back off the post before the visitors took the lead with 12 minutes left when Fowler headed home a cross from the left.

Dunbar’s quest for an equaliser in the closing minutes left them vulnerable to breakaway attacks and this cost them a second goal two minutes into injury time.

Ferrier did well to keep out Ryan Docherty’s shot, but the ball rebounded into the path of Drummond who slammed the ball home to ensure three points went west.

Dunbar’s frustrations boiled over at the end when Rixon received his second booking for kicking the ball away and he took an early bath.

Fauldhouse 3, Tranent 0

PROMOTION candidates Fauldhouse eased to a comfortable victory over a rusty Belters side who hadn’t played a competitive match for five weeks.

A 2-0 midweek friendly defeat by Berwick Rangers on the Foresters Park astroturf prepared Stevie McLeish’s youngsters for their return to action on Saturday, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough.

Tranent were missing Stuart Johnston, Michael O’Raw, Mark McEwan and Craig Smith for the match.

In an evenly-matched first half, Steven Tait had a shot on target early on for Tranent but the Fauldhouse keeper produced a fine save to keep him out before Tait was forced to limp off injured.

And Tranent’s luck got worse before half-time as the influential Keith Auld and Steven Devine also suffered knocks which prevented them from continuing.

With substitutions and positional switches forcing several players out of their accustomed positions, Tranent coped well overall against a Fauldhouse side who had the edge in possession terms, but lacked a clinical touch when it came to a goal threat until Dolan popped up just before the break to fire in the opener.

Despite the enforced first half changes Tranent put in a solid performance which gave plenty of cause for encouragement, but the hosts found another two goals late on through Graham and McGeachie, and the winning margin flattered them slightly.

Haddington

WITH no competitive fixture scheduled, the Hi-Hi had lined up a Millfield friendly against amateur side Eastvale, hailing from Windygates in Fife, before a pitch inspection on Saturday morning called a halt to proceedings.

Having not played since December 29, the match against a team currently fourth in a league of reasonable standard offered George Bowmaker’s men the opportunity of some much-needed match practice.

The Hi-Hi are scheduled to play Blackburn United away from home, and with the West Lothian club determined to continue their recent winning streak, they could hardly have picked a sterner test.

Both clubs are currently on 22 points although Blackburn have played two games more.

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