Penicuik Athletic 4

Musselburgh Athletic 0

THE 10th game of Musselburgh’s first senior campaign saw them facing up to old Junior rivals Penicuik Athletic in what was also their very first participation in the East Of Scotland Qualifying Cup, having received a bye into the second round.

Burgh boss Calvin Shand, with his fair share of injury concerns to contend with, brought in five of their under-20s squad, four of them among the half dozen substitutes while Liam Gregory started for the fourth time.

A difficult opening 45 minutes saw Musselburgh mostly on the back foot as a highly-motivated Penicuik took the game to their visitors from the outset.

A fair bit of home pressure had the Burgh defence working hard early on, and the hosts came close to taking an eighth minute lead but top scorer Somerville was wide of the target by a matter of inches.

Burgh went a goal behind in the 14th minute when the ball found its way into the Burgh net from a corner, goalkeeper Dale Cornet given the own goal credit.

Somerville almost made it 2-0 a minute later, but that scoreline materialised soon enough as Kateleza doubled the home lead on 18 minutes.

Burgh were left reeling three minutes later as Baptie produced another great Penicuik finish, and two minutes short of the half hour they were 4-0 down when Jones netted.

Penicuik’s first half performance had their manager, ex-Haddington boss Johnny Harvey purring, and while they weren’t as clinical in the second half they remained in control – the visitors were no match on the day.

This was only the second time in 2018 Musselburgh had failed to score, the previous occasion at Kirriemuir Thistle on January 13, but the second time this season they’d been beaten by a four-goal margin.

Manager Shand will be hopeful of a return to type for what look two winnable Conference A fixtures away from home this week, at Oakley United on Saturday and Hawick Royal Albert on Tuesday evening.

Easthouses Lily 5

Dunbar United 6

(after extra time)

THE Seasiders’ 11th fixture of 2018/19 was their seventh cup tie, and having already exited the Alex Jack Cup and the South Region Challenge Cup they were eager to maintain an interest in the League Cup, in which they’d finished as runners up in their Qualifying League group to Camelon Juniors.

Standing between them and a first knockout round tie at home to Broxburn Athletic were Easthouses Lily, who’d been beaten three times in the pair’s four Junior meetings during the Lily’s short stint away from the senior grade.

Five weeks previously Dunbar had enjoyed a memorable cup victory, 4-1 at Linlithgow Rose, in the Qualifying Cup’s first round – nobody last Saturday could’ve foreseen what was to prove another cup classic.

Dunbar looked the likelier lot early on with the wind affecting proceedings, but Lily took a contentious lead from just about their first attack on 14 minutes – Zach Szemis felt he’d won the ball cleanly in a penalty box challenge but the referee took a different view and pointed to the spot, from where McDermott converted.

The visitors dusted themselves down and continued to have more of the play, but found themselves further behind 10 minutes before the break when Shearer scored a fine second goal for the Lily.

This boosted the homesters, who’d a couple more close calls before another controversial refereeing episode on 41 minutes, when the referee initially awarded Dunbar a penalty but changed his mind following consultation with an assistant.

Deep into injury time Darren Handling rose to head home from a Chris King corner, leaving the tie finely balanced going into the second half.

The Seasiders pressed forward at every opportunity after play resumed, and were level on 57 minutes after a good run from Fraser McLaren resulted in the ball falling kindly for Keith Tait, who finished from the edge of the box.

With 20 minutes to play Chris King set up skipper Steven Tait, who gave Dunbar the lead, but Lily levelled with time almost up when McDermott’s corner sailed into the net. That meant extra time was required to try and decide a winner, and at the end of the first 15 minute period Lily were in front thanks to Young, who’d taken advantage when a free kick wasn’t properly cleared.

With 112 minutes played the score remained 4-3 in Lily’s favour, but Kieran Ingram then headed in to draw the teams level once more. Darren McCraw’s first Dunbar goal put them in front for a second time, but when Young made it 5-5 nearing the final whistle; a penalty shootout looked inevitable.

Not so, as it turned out, as there was still time for Grant Thomson to head home the winner to a quite incredible cup tie, not likely to be forgotten quickly.

The week ahead brings two home games in Conference A, starting with Hill Of Beath Hawthorn on Saturday – the Fifers knocked Dunbar out of the Alex Jack Cup, and should prove a tough nut to crack.

On Wednesday evening, Coldstream are the visitors to New Countess Park.