Hill of Beath and Lochore enjoy cup wins but Bluebell lose

However, in league fixtures there were defeats for Dundonald Bluebell, Crossgates Primrose and Lochgelly Albert.

Hill of Beath Hawthorn 3 Thornton Hibs 2

SECOND top of the Second Division, Thornton gave Premiership side Haws a real run for their money in this East of Scotland League Cup tie.

Hibs raced into a lead inside two minutes when Dan Baur gave away a penalty which was converted, and before five minutes had elapsed the visitors were 2-0 up when Jake Mitchell’s header back to the goalkeeper was intercepted and the lower league side capitalised.

Stung into action, Hill of Beath started on the comeback trail with a nice finish from Jordan Tosh pulling a goal back.

They began the second-half on top and drew level after 65 minutes in some style with a fine volley into the top corner by Jonny Galloway.

Up for the cup. Hill of Beath produced a comeback special to beat Thornton Hibs on Saturday. (Image: David Wardle)

Haws had the better of the chances in the closing stages but it took until the 86th minute for the goal to come, when Ross Allum, whose father passed away in midweek, grabbing the winner.

Haws boss Alan Moody was proud of the way his team came back into the match after the shock start: “We knew it would be a very difficult game, against a team who have being doing really well this season, and we made a couple of bad errors early on.

“But we came back strongly in the second-half with Jonny Galloway, who played really well, scoring a magnificent equaliser, and then Ross Allum, who lost his dad during the week, fired in a well taken winner.”

Lochore Welfare 2 Camelon 1

A FINE East of Scotland League Cup second round win for the Welfare against fellow First Division side Camelon.

The Falkirk based team are in third top spot in the division, but they found Lochore a hard task.

This was a very efficient performance by the home side who had seen little action in recent weeks, through the poor weather, but they opened the game well and created chances.

Lochore took the lead in 14 minutes through a top class finish from Logan Donaldson, who latched to a Ewan Sutherland flick and sent his overhead kick over the ‘keeper.

Goalkeeper Dale Wotherspoon made a fine save, after a Camelon striker went one-on-one with him, and both sides spurned chances before the break. 

Welfare started the second period well and went two up in 54 minutes when Peter Thomson cracked a left foot strike into the net from 20 yards.

Camelon were reduced to 10 men through a second booking, but came back into the picture in 67 minutes with a goal from a free-kick.

Put under pressure, Lochore’s defensive qualities shone through while, at the other end, Joe Kirby, Sutherland and Cammy Bell went close to getting a third goal.

The Welfare shut out the visitors to book their place in the third round of the competition and pleased manager, James Adam, who said: “I felt this was a well-deserved win with us scoring two cracking goals and defending well when we had to.”

Dundonald Bluebell 1 Broxburn Athletic 3

THE Premier Division leaders took advantage of an injury-hit Dundonald side to take the win and another three points in their quest for the title. 

Bluebell had defended well, and chances for Broxburn were limited as the sides went in level at the break, but defensive lapses opened the door for the visitors. 

In the first 10 minutes of the second-half they shipped two goals which should have been avoided, and on the hour they were three down.

There was a lifeline for Dundonald when Broxburn were reduced to 10 men and they started to ask questions of the league leaders, who were forced onto the back foot.

There was no stopping Barry Sibanda’s 30 yard free-kick although Athletic then shut the game down to preserve their lead and seal the victory. 

The result keeps the ‘Bell in ninth place, with games in hand, but manager Stephen Husband realised it would be difficult to take on the league leaders with six players out injured.

He explained: “We did well in the first period but were caught out for making a few bad mistakes early in the second-half.

“I feel we still have the chance to finish in the top seven and hopefully we can have a few of the injured group fit for the fixtures coming up.”

Crossgates Primrose 0 Musselburgh Athletic 1

SECOND top of the Premier Division, Musselburgh found Primrose a tough nut to crack at Humbug Park.

The early stages of the game saw both defences dominate and clear-cut chances were few and far between, although both ‘keepers produced good saves when needed.

Crossgates’ last line, Miko Komocki, kept up the good work in the second period but a good ‘Burgh move in 58 minutes gave them the opportunity to take the lead.

Primrose fought back and there were chances for them to level, with Archie Campbell and David Cross going close, but the visitors held on to strengthen their grip on second top spot.

For Primrose, they are four points from safety and really must look to get positive returns from their two matches this week, against Dundonald and Kinnoull.

Fauldhouse United 3 Lochgelly Albert 2

AFTER a couple of weeks out of action, the Berts were a little rusty in this Third Division encounter in Fauldhouse.

They did take the lead, though, in 28 minutes, when a pass-back to the ‘keeper took an awkward bounce and Scott Russell pounced to take advantage of the error.

However, five minutes later Lochgelly conceded a penalty, which was converted to square the game, then a minute from the interval a long throw led to United grabbing an interval lead.

The Berts were not showing the form of earlier in the year, and Fauldhouse got a third goal when the visiting defence failed to deal with a ball through the middle.

Lochgelly came back when Callum Bennell was fouled in the Fauldhouse box and Russell converted the penalty.

It set up a hectic finish to the game and Albert had two efforts cleared off the line, but United held on to move three points ahead of the visitors.

The Albert’s Ian Patrick felt they could have got a result: “We conceded a couple of avoidable goals, but finished the game strongly and could have taken a point from it.”

Fixtures: Tonight (Wednesday) - Premier League, Crossgates Primrose v Dundonald Bluebell. Third Division, Lochgelly Albert v Whitburn. Both kick-offs 6.30pm.

Saturday (kick-off 2.30pm) - Dundonald Bluebell v Penicuik Athletic, Hill of Beath Hawthorn v Tynecastle, Kinnoull v Crossgates Primrose.

East of Scotland First Division, Lochore Welfare v Blackburn United 2.30pm. Third Division, Stoneyburn v Lochgelly Albert 2.30pm.