Lochgelly Albert hit seven against East of Scotland rivals

Elsewhere, there were draws for Premier Division side Hill of Beath Hawthorn, and Crossgates Primrose in the First Division, but Dundonald Bluebell and Lochore Welfare suffered defeats.

Whitburn 2 Hill of Beath Hawthorn 2, 

A GOAL in time added on denied Haws full points from this Premier Division game at Whitburn.

Hill of Beath started well and put the home side under pressure at times in the opening quarter of the game, and in 20 minutes, Jake Mitchell put them ahead with a neat finish after a corner routine.

Whitburn have been picking up a lot of points in their first season in the top division, and they levelled when the visiting defence was caught out, allowing a free header.

However, not long after, Haws were creating chances again, and a good move involving Jordan Tosh, Dan Watt and John Smith ended with the latter firing home goal number two for the visitors.

Just before the half-time break, Smith and Brandon Luke were denied by good saves from the Whitburn goalkeeper to keep a single goal in it at the interval.

The second half saw Whitburn reduced to 10 men, and Haws went looking for a third goal, but they were denied by a couple of good saves.

Then, with the game entering the 92nd minute, a long ball into the box saw it fall for a home forward, who fired home to earn Whitburn a point.

Haws sit in fifth spot, with 18 points from their nine games, and manager, Robbie Raeside said: "We played well for long patches in the game, and in the second half there were chances to get the key third goal, but we just did not grab it and in the closing seconds we conceded the equaliser.

"So often when that happens it feels like a defeat but, to be fair, Whitburn are a good side and we just needed a wee bit more composure at key times to earn the win."

Dundonald Bluebell 0 Jeanfield Swifts 4

DUNDONALD BLUEBELL paid a heavy penalty for some poor defending against the Premier Division leaders at Moorside.

The hosts actually started the game well and created a couple of decent early openings, but didn’t hit the target.

In 20 minutes, following a corner, they were left to rue those missed opportunities when Swifts took the lead after the home defence was slow to react to a loose ball in the box.

There were a couple of good openings for Dundonald but, at the break, they turned around a goal down.

The game, however, was to turn on a bad spell for Bluebell.

In 55 minutes Jeanfield got a second goal through another bad defensive error, then soon after they lost another from a slip.

The fourth goal came from another mistake to complete a bad day for the Bluebell, and a result which leaves them in 11th place in the table.

Manager Jason Dair said: "We opened the game well and could have been in front in the first 25 minutes, but some poor defending gifted the opening goal and that set the pattern for the rest of the game.

"We created a few good chances, but at key times gifted goals to Swifts and paid the penalty. We have a cup game this week and it is a chance to get some of our injured players back in action, but we have to stop gifting goals."

Blackburn United 2 Crossgates Primrose 2

CROSSGATES PRIMROSE were denied victory deep into stoppage time as Blackburn United scored a dramatic late leveller.

After a scoreless first half in the First Division encounter, Alan Campbell's men fell behind just after the hour, but levelled moments later through red-hot forward, Scott Hynd, who took his tally to 13 goals in just 11 matches.

Primrose, who had won five league games on the bounce prior to this visit to West Lothian, looked on course to make it a half-dozen when Reece Bernard put them ahead with nine minutes to go, but Blackburn hit back five minutes into time added on to rescue a point.

Crossgates drop a place to third, on goal difference behind Newtongrange Star, but both teams are just two points adrift of early leaders, Camelon Juniors.

Prior to the match, the Humbug Park outfit announced the signing of Innes Easton, who can play at full-back or in midfield, and he was named amongst their substitutes at Blackburn.

Lochore Welfare 0 Newtongrange Star 1

FIRST DIVISION strugglers Lochore Welfare were always going to find the visit of the promotion chasing Newtongrange Star a hard task, but they were a bit unlucky not to take something from the game.

Star have been in the top two most of the season, but the Welfare started the game brightly and had chances to grab the lead in the first-half.

The visiting defence had to work hard to keep the home attack at bay, while at the other end, Lochore dealt with anything Nitten threw at them and, at the break, there were no goals.

It was anyone’s game and, again, Welfare could have grabbed the lead early in the second half when Joe Kirby’s shot came back off the Star woodwork, then Mattie Christie and Gregg Page had good chances, but couldn’t convert.

However, Star survived and, in 73 minutes, got the break which turned the game their way when a cross-cum shot curled into the net.

Lochore kept at it right to the end, but just could not get the breakthrough that was needed, and they remain at the foot of the table.

Manager James Adam said: "We missed two golden chances at 0-0 which could have put us in charge of the game, but apart from that we had the better of the game against one of the leading sides."

Lochgelly Albert 7 Linton Hotspur 3

IT was a 10-goal thriller with Lochgelly stretching their lead at the top of the Third Division to six points with this convincing win over one of their challengers.

Hotspur started the game well and forced some corners but, in 12 minutes, a 35-yard free-kick from Declan Boyle put the Berts in front.

Then, within a minute, a Dylan Geddes pass set up Scott Russell and the deadly striker doubled the home side’s advantage with a diving header.

Just before the half hour, a long ball over the Linton defence let Kieran Boundy through to chip the goalkeeper for number three, but a penalty six minutes later allowed Linton to open their account.

Two minutes from the break, Boundy struck again, then on the interval whistle, the front man completed his hat-trick with a well-placed header.

Cammy Lewis, signed during the week from Burntisland Shipyard, was introduced for the second half and, early in the period, he took a Boyle pass and finished well to make it 6-1, before the visitors pulled another goal back in the 78th minute.

Lochgelly weren’t finished yet, though, and as the game went into time added on, Russell took a Lewis pass and fired home number seven, before Linton added a third just before the final whistle.

Berts' committee man, Derek Patrick, was delighted with the result against a team in fifth place as Lochgelly moved on to 22 points: "We created some excellent opportunities and the finishing was spot-on, so it was a very impressive overall performance."

Saturday’s fixtures (kick-offs 2.30pm): South Challenge Cup, third round: Linton Hotspur v Hill of Beath Hawthorn. East of Scotland Qualifying Cup, third round: Bathgate Thistle v Dundonald Bluebell. East of Scotland League, Third Division: Ormiston Primrose v Lochgelly Albert.