HILL OF BEATH and Crossgates came out on top during two exciting Fife derbies over the weekend, with Dundonald and Lochore Welfare enduring a day to forget.

Lochgelly also fell to defeat during a six-goal thriller against Hawick Royal Albert during the weekend’s matches.

Hill of Beath Hawthorn 6, Dundonald Bluebell 0

HILL OF BEATH continued their scintillating form under their new manager, crushing local rivals Dundonald in this Premier Division match at Keir’s Park.

The thrashing earned Robbie Raeside his second win in a row at the Haws, following on from the 5-0 win at Dunipace.

Callum Deas opened the scoring inside just five minutes, before Jordan Tosh converted a penalty to double the lead.

Dundonald tried to get a foothold but the match was killed off after Tosh scored his second and Haws’ third before half time.

Brandon Luke and Josh Mitchell added the fourth and fifth, before a Dundonald own goal brought the game to an end.

“It was a great result,” Raeside said. “It was a fine match and I’m really pleased with the result.

“The week I’ve had coming into the club – you don’t get many starts better than that, 8-0 at Fort William, 5-0 at Dunipace and 6-0 at Dundonald.

“It’s been an incredible start and I want to thank the players for their efforts over the past week.

“It’s the players that have done it, they’ve given everything I’ve asked of them and more. They’ve got a great togetherness.

“Before I got the job, I watched them play against Glenrothes at home and I was really impressed that day.

“They’ve certainly not dropped their standards and I can’t complain at all.

“I’m delighted to be here and I’d like to thank Scott Forrest, Darren Taylor and the rest of the committee at Hill of Beath.

“It’s been a good start and I’m looking forward to the rest of the season.”

Bluebell boss Jason Dair missed the match and coach Graeme Nutt lamented a bad day at the office, citing Haws’ physicality as a key factor in his side’s collapse.

“Really disappointing,” he said. “It’s a local derby between two well known clubs and I’m disappointed with how the game went.

“Physically, Haws were a wee bit stronger than we were and they expressed that and played to their strengths which we didn’t seem to be able to stand up to.

“We went 2-0 down, two early goals and then we came back into the game and we looked like we were going to get back in.

“We made another mistake which led to the third goal and it was all downhill from there.

“Really disappointing in that sense but we do have a number of injuries to key players and people away on holiday and other engagements.

“We had about seven first team players missing, however I'm not using that as an excuse – I’m really disappointed to lose so heavily in a local derby.”

Lochore Welfare 0, Crossgates Primrose 2

Crossgates were the victors during the derby at Lochore and picked up three valuable points in this First Division clash.

Touch conditions for Primrose meant they had to tweak the way they played, going more direct against the home side.

After a shaky start they picked up and went ahead in the first half when Scott Hynd was brought down in the box.

He dusted himself down and converted the resulting penalty.

Lochore had chances in the second half, but Primrose stood tall to deny the hosts, with Brendan Ramsay adding a second goal.

“It was a typical local derby,” Crossgates boss Alan Campbell said. “The first half was quite even and I’d maybe say Lochore edged it at times.

“They had a couple of chances to go ahead but we got the goal at half time which really settled us down.

“In the second half, we took over and were the better team.

“We were able to see it out and we got the second goal to get the points which over the piece, we probably deserved.

“We were made to work really hard and it was a tough game but I’m pleased to get the clean sheet and the three points.”

Lochgelly Albert 2, Hawick Royal Albert 4

Derek Patrick rued “soft goals” as Lochgelly Albert suffered their first defeat of their First Division campaign. 

The Berts committee man said it was a bad day at the office, littered with uncharacteristic defending which saw the home side concede four times to the Borders side.

Hawick established a two goal lead early on Saturday, giving Lochgelly a tough task to get back in the game.

“It wasn’t particularly great,” Patrick admitted. “But this was only our first defeat of the season.

“We were looking the better team in the first quarter without massively testing their goal but then Hawick got a goal from a bad pass back to our keeper.

“We were on the back foot and then they went further ahead and we ended up 2-0 down.

“We were thinking it was a mountain to climb but we responded very well to get it back to 2-1.”

Lochgelly came out after the break looking to get back in the match, responding through a Lewis Weir goal.

Unfortunately, Hawick restored their two goal cushion before the Albert fought back once more from Scott Russell’s free kick.

Hopes of claiming a point disappeared after they added a fourth goal to put the game to bed.

Patrick added: “We go to sleep and it’s 3-1, another long ball forward and we’re thinking this isn’t our day.

“We score from a free kick and we look to still be in this but it was killed by their fourth goal.

“It was a disappointing one but when we ship soft goals like that, what do we expect?”

 

Saturday's fixtures (all kick offs 2.30pm): Premier League - Dundonald Bluebell v Luncarty; South Challenge Cup - Hill of Beath Hawthorns v Edinburgh Uni; Lochore Welfare v Ashfield; Maryhill v Lochgelly Albert; Thorn Athletic v Crossgates.