SATURDAY saw a clean sweep of victories for the local junior sides with the six in action all collecting wins.

And for Ballingry Rovers and Dundonald Bluebell the results could be crucial come the end of the season.

St Andrews United 0, Hill of Beath Hawthorn 1.

ANOTHER fine result for Haws who are now looking at a top five East Super League finish.

With United desperate for points to avoid relegation, it was never going to be a silky game and the strong wind added to the problems.

But Haws had the bulk of possession in the first period and while not carving out a lot of chances, visiting ‘keeper Stuart Hall had virtually nothing to do.

St Andrews defended bravely but in 43 minutes they could not contain Ross Allum who fired Hill of Beath in front.

The second period took on a similar pattern and Haws had more chances with Aaron Hay heading over from a prime position and then Scott Renton shooting wide.

St Andrews got more and more desperate with their efforts but Hall had only one save of any note to make.

The result puts Haws on 37 points from 20 games and while they are ten behind fifth placed Broxburn they have eight games in hand so there is plenty for them to play for in the closing weeks of the campaign.

Hill of Beath manager Jock Finlayson was happy with the performance, “Conditions were really difficult thanks to the cross wind but while not being at our best we gave them few openings and could have scored more than the single winner.” Ballingry Rovers 2, Armadale Thistle 1.

THIS was a crucial game in the Rovers’ Super League survival plan and the Ore Parkers rolled their sleeves up and got the win.

Rovers had more of their experienced men available and it saw them start the game well and after creating some good openings Willie Campbell put them ahead.

Thistle were toiling now and in 20 minutes Murray Carstairs made it 2-0 and there were several close things at the Armadale end.

Lee Bryce was clean through but did not complete the job and some hard work by the Thistle defence meant that at the break Rovers were just two up.

In the second-half Armadale had a lot more of the ball and pulled one back through an own goal and then Ballingry suffered a blow when Carstairs was red carded for a second yellow with around 25 minutes left.

The home side redoubled their efforts though and held on to take the points which moves them out of the bottom three with seven games left.

Rovers manager Stevie Kay was pleased with the performance, “We were the better team throughout and thoroughly deserved to win, if again we did not convert as many chances as we should have.

“We now need to look for a similar return from Tayport this week which is another key game for us.” Haddington Athletic 1, Kelty Hearts 5.

THIS DFT Fife and Lothians Cup-tie saw Hearts show the gap that exists between the South Division and the Super League.

Haddington had a lot of the ball in the first-half but failed to really put Hearts under a lot of pressure and they fell behind to a Stuart Cargill finish. Paddy Deane and Ross Philp had chances to stretch the lead and Athletic hit back early in the second period.

But it only made Hearts redouble their efforts and on the hour Deane converted from a corner to make it 2-1 then Cargill added two more to complete his hat-trick.

This put Hearts in complete charge and Damon Gray completed the scoring with five minutes left.

The result pleased Hearts player/boss Thomas Courts, “Maybe 5-1 flattered us a bit but we contained them pretty well in the first-half and really started to convert the chances we were creating in the second.

“It is good to be in the latter stages of this important competition but now we have to concentrate on getting the league points we need to be safe from the relegation play-offs.” Falkirk JFC 2, Dundonald Bluebell 3.

BLUEBELL got the win they wanted to keep their promotion bid in the South Division firing on all cylinders and with Blackburn United losing at Dunbar they are back in the promotion spot needing seven points from their last three games to guarantee going up to the Premier League.

Falkirk have been getting some good results this season and they shocked Dundonald by taking the lead straight from the kick-off.

It did not take long for Bluebell to level things with Ian Lally firing home the equaliser after five minutes.

This settled the Moorsiders and they started to boss the game and in 20 minutes Derek Wallace put them ahead.

There could have been more before the break but with wind advantage now it looked like Dundonald would take the game away from Falkirk but the Bairns levelled things and left the visitors concerned.

Dundonald controlled the play and surged forward looking for more goals and in 75 minutes Stephen Bathgate grabbed the winner.

Bluebell sit on 51 points from 23 games with Blackburn on 50 from 24 matches so seven points from their three remaining games would clinch the step-up.

Bluebell committee man Drew Davidson said that it was all about taking the last three games one at a time with no one at Moorside getting ahead of themselves, “We have West Calder at home this Saturday and the target is three points.

“It is in our own hands and we could not ask for much more at this stage.” Whitburn 1, Lochgelly Albert 3.

AN excellent way for Albert to finish their South Division season with a rare win over former giants of the junior game, Whitburn.

The Lochgelly side produced one of their better shows away from Gardiner’s Park after the boost of a goal from Darren Seath in 12 minutes.

‘Burn hit back immediately and squared the match but Albert continued to move the ball about on the artificial pitch and create chances.

Four minutes from the interval Andy Watt struck to put Albert in front again and in the second period Lochgelly continued to look the more dangerous side and when Whitburn were reduced to 10 in 54 minutes, through the dismissal of a defender, things looked even brighter for them.

They created several good chances and with nine minutes to go Seath grabbed the safety goal.

The win ended an up and down league season for Lochgelly but they have 30 points from their 26 games and are almost certainly going to finish in ninth spot in the table.

Lochore Welfare 4 Lochee Harp 3.

WELFARE made hard work of winning this North Division game but they showed resilience after going two down early on.

Lochore started the game brightly and created a couple of good chances but lost the opener which should have been prevented.

Then in 25 minutes a long ball was not properly defended and they were two adrift but they hit back when Brett McGuire latched onto a slack pass-back and did the needful.

Then shortly after McGuire was fouled on the edge of the box and Lee Reid stepped up and fired the free-kick into the net to square things at the interval.

However, more indifferent defending by the home side let Lochee in to retake the lead in 46 minutes.

Welfare stepped up their challenge and they again squared things when Kevin Goodwin fired a half volley into the top corner and then McGuire put them ahead for the first time.

In the last ten minutes Harp came at Lochore but despite a few close calls they collected full points and with seven games left they should still make the top eight.

Welfare boss John Wylie was pleased with the performance if not his side’s defending, “The lads showed a bit of character by digging themselves out of self created holes.

“We did not defend too well and it cost us three goals but were good going forward and deserved the win.” Saturday’s fixtures, East Super League, Hill of Beath Hawthorn v Kelty Hearts, Tayport v Ballingry Rovers.

South Division, Dundonald Bluebell v West Calder United, Rosyth Recreation v Crossgates Primrose. North Division, Lochore Welfare v Arbroath Vics (all games 2.30pm).