A FIRST Lowland League defeat for Kelty Hearts and some big East of Scotland Qualifying League wins for Dundonald Bluebell and Hill of Beath Hawthorn were the main Saturday talking points.

However, the result of the day was Crossgates Primroses’s win at Sauchie which puts them through their section to the next stage of the competition.

Hill of Beath Hawthorn 9,

Stirling University (EoS) 1.

THE Haws cruised into the next stage of the EoS Qualifying League with the Students completely overrun.

Hill of Beath needed to win, however, after last Tuesday’s loss to Bonnyrigg Rose and got the perfect start with a goal from Charlie Denton inside 30 seconds.

Credit to the Uni, however, with them levelling in ten minutes through a good goal, and for a spell they were able to pose a few problems for the hosts but in 20 minutes the second came when Calum Adamson fired home a Daniel Watt cross.

Then on the half hour Watt made it 3-1 from an Adamson assist and soon after Ricky Patrick took Joe Kirby’s pass and added number four. A fifth from Watt gave Haws a 5-1 interval lead.

The second period saw Hill of Beath start well and Watt robbed a defender and slotted number six to complete his hat-trick and the closing period belonged to young Kirby.

He shrugged off two tackles and added number seven, then cleverly made it 8-1 with a neat finish and went on to complete his hat-trick with another well taken goal.

So Haws are in the knock-out stages and manager Kevin Fotheringham was pleased with the way his team went about winning the game: “Getting a goal in the first minute was a huge boost and while we had a sticky patch when they scored, we really started to dominate and some of the goals were really well taken.”

Sauchie 1,

Crossgates Primrose 2.

PRIMROSE went to Sauchie knowing that to finish in the top two in Section C they needed to win in Clackmannanshire.

Sauchie were a Super League team in junior set up last season and they made a good start to this game but Crossgates defended well.

Eventually Primrose started to create openings and there were a couple of chances and in 15 minutes they took the lead with a fine move saw a home defender put the ball in his own net trying to clear.

Sauchie came back at Crossgates but they held on to the break to give themselves a base to build on.

However, two minutes after the break Sauchie squared the game and this gave the home side the chance to press for the win which would give them qualification.

Primrose defended superbly well and then started to look for the winning goal themselves and in 83 minutes Darren Aitken’s strike gave them the result which saw them share top spot with Penicuik Athletic with five points.

Dundonald Bluebell 5,

Craigroyston 0.

BLUEBELL were already out of the EoS Qualifying League competition due to last Tuesday’s defeat at Newtongrange, but they wanted to finish the sectional games with a win.

Bluebell started to dominate and they took the lead with a goal from Calum Smith after an Archie Campbell cut-back .

The visitors were hard workers and they tried to deny the ‘Bell space but the home side got a second before the break when Michael Ness sent Smith through and he completed the job well.

That was the break position and in the second period the home side continued to press and number three came with a goal from Campbell on the hour.

Craigroyston were struggling now and Campbell finished well to add a fourth in 75 minutes, then grabbed his hat-trick with a well taken goal in 84 minutes.

Bluebell boss Jason Dair was delighted with the overall show: “Most of our players are now fit and ready for action and we looked a lot sharper in this game and converted chances well.

“We have also brought former Cowdenbeath midfielder Brian Ross in and we will be looking to build on that result in this week’s Alex Jack Cup-tie.”

Lochgelly Albert 1,

West Calder United 1.

A MAKESHIFT Berts team managed to open their South Division account for the season.

With six players unavailable, the Gardiner’s Parkers had to rely on several trialists from their Colts side, but the youngsters did not let the side down.

The first period saw West Calder dominate proceedings and push Lochgelly back but some solid defending managed to keep the visitors out.

Home raids were fairly few but in 40 minutes the Albert took the lead when Ricky Cooper fired a free-kick into the net.

The second period saw West Calder press for a leveller but some good goalkeeping kept them out until the 86th minute.

Twice shots were blocked then a third hit a post and the loose ball was netted.

Over the piece it was a deserved goal for United but the Berts were worthy of their point for their resilience.

Pumpherston 3,

Lochore Welfare 0.

THIS was always going to be a very tough assignment for Lochore, taking on last season’s South Division champions in their league opener.

Wes Lockwood, Ewan Sutherland and Sean Johnstone made their competitive debuts and they helped Lochore have two good chances with Joe Kinninmonth unlucky not to score twice with efforts being blocked.

Pumphy had a couple of good opening too but at the break there were no goals.

The home side started the second-half well and scored in 50 minutes with a good finish, but the introduction of Welfare subs Jamie McNeish, Davie Byrne and Adam Haddow, almost brought the equaliser with McNeish’s effort after a good run, going inches wide.

The next goal was going to be crucial and it was Pumphy who got it in 65 minutes with a 25 yard free-kick into the top corner.

Welfare responded with an Adam Haddow cross which the ‘keeper palmed out and Kinninmonth’s shot was blocked to McNeish who fired just over.

Then in 83 minutes Pumphy caught Lochore with a counter attack which saw them score number three.

Lochore boss Andy Healy was delighted with the way his team tackled the task: “It was never going to be easy to win this game, but in the first-half there was nothing between the sides and it was really a spectacular second goal which made the difference. A decent performance from us against a very good side.”

Saturday’s fixtures: Lowland League, Kelty Hearts v Selkirk (3pm).

Alex Jack Cup first round, Crossgates Primrose v Eyemouth United, Dundonald Bluebell v Broxburn Athletic, Hill of Beath Hawthorn v Dunbar United (2.30).

South Division, Lochore Welfare v Livingston United, Stoneyburn v Lochgelly Albert (2.30).