The loss of late goals had cost Musselburgh Athletic five points in their previous two games, a source of great disappointment to boss Davie McGlynn after wins in their opening two fixtures, and a trip to Camelon on Saturday posed another stern challenge.

The Stirlingshire men had dropped to the bottom of the Superleague table the previous week after previously pointless Lochee United hit a last gasp winner at Olive Bank, and McGlynn knew they’d be determined to ensure their stay there was as short as possible.

Fortunately for the Burgh boss he had a near-full squad to select from, in contrast to the threadbare squad he had to call on against Lochee.

Musselburgh started well, taking the game to their hosts with a fine display of passing football which caused the Camelon defence endless problems. Top scorer Jordyn Sheerin, back in action after returning from holiday, brought a save from home keeper Clark with a shot from 20 yards, then a Steven Thomson effort flew narrowly past the post.

The visitors were enjoying plenty of possession and ought really to have been in front within the opening half-hour, but as Camelon came into the game more they forced a couple of corners and took the lead against the run of play with 33 minutes on the clock, McLaren heading home from close range.

A Sheerin free-kick almost brought the equaliser but Clark tipped the ball over the bar, and right on half-time Lewis Turner seemed set to score, only for a vital Cooper challenge to ensure Camelon went in at the interval with a scarcely deserved 1-0 lead intact.

Boss McGlynn wasn’t at all happy at his side trailing despite their dominance, and he was given more cause to be angered within two minutes of the restart when Camelon doubled their lead. A free kick from the right was delivered into the box and a deflection forced Ally Adams into a good save, but Allison following up had a fairly straightforward task to guide the ball into the net.

Musselburgh refused to be downhearted and they pulled a goal back with 55 minutes played, Thomson rounding off a delightful five-man move with a left-footed shot high past Clark.

Buoyed by this fantastic effort, the visitors were level just two minutes later following another well-worked goal, a sequence of 15 passes opening up the home defence and allowing Ollie Russell to find Sheerin, who hit his fifth league goal in three outings with a well-executed shot low past Clark.

Camelon were rocking now and Burgh controlled most of the last half-hour – were it not for a fantastic performance from Clark in the Camelon goal, three points would surely have been theirs. The keeper saved from Turner and Russell, while Michael Hunter hit the side netting on his return from suspension, and then Sheerin looked to have scored, only for Clark to bring off his best save with a fingertip stop.

In the last minute a Thomson shot might well have sealed the win for Burgh but a full-length dive from Clark meant the Camelon hero earned his side a point they could probably scarcely believe they’d earned.

McGlynn felt this was a case of two points dropped rather than a point gained, while at the same time acknowledging the magnificent performance of the Camelon custodian. His wish is for his team to kill off the opposition when opportunities arise – if they can achieve that then a top-six finish at least would appear to be within their reach.

Tomorrow, Burgh break from the rigours of Superleague football, facing an East of Scotland Cup first-round tie against Falkirk Juniors at Olive Bank.

The teams have never met before, with Falkirk having only come into being as recently as 2011 – their start to their fourth South Division campaign hasn’t been great and it would be a real upset if Burgh were to falter.