Win at Carnoustie sets up Hearts for clash with Rose

Indeed, Hearts maintained their advantage at the top of the East Super League with a clinical win at Carnoustie. Meanwhile at Dunbar there was controversy with the hosts scoring a goal which infuriated Lochgelly Albert officials.

Carnoustie Panmure 0, Kelty Hearts 2.

WITH Panmure desperate for points to get out of relegation trouble this was always going to be a tough game for Hearts.

The first period saw Kelty boss possession but Panmure defended solidly and the visitors were made to work hard to carve out chances.

But there were openings for Craig O’Reilly and Nelly McCabe which saw the ‘keeper have to do well to keep his team level.

The Hearts’ defence did well to contain the home side’s sporadic raids but in 22 minutes the game flared up when Carnoustie’s Kevin Cumming was red carded.

The player shortage seemed to inspire Panmure who upped their workrate and at the break there were no goals.

Kelty opened the second period looking to really take advantage of the extra man and they surged forward and in 58 minutes took the lead when Paul Currie was lying handy to get the ball past the ‘keeper. This took the pressure off Hearts and they continued to create chances but when the second goal came it was a spectacular strike with just two minutes left from McCabe from all of 20 yards.

It tied up the points and sets thing up nicely for this week’s top of the table clash with Linlithgow Rose.

Hill of Beath Hawthorn 2, Armadale This. 1.

A WELCOME three points for Haws but they had to grind it out against a stuffy Thistle unit.

This was the first league match at Keir’s Park in almost three months and in the early stages both teams struggled to put together many telling moves.

However, with 10 minutes on the clock Calum Adamson raced into a good position and fired Haws ahead.

Thistle kept their shape though and the home side were struggling to pierce many holes in their rearguard although a Breen header was cleared off the line as the home side tried to up the pressure towards the break.

The second period had a bad start for Haws with Thistle levelling in 47 minutes with a clever chip shot but the hosts then dominated possession.

Still they could not find a lot of space in the Armadale box and for a time it looked like Thistle could escape with a point.

Then with five minutes left two substitutes teamed up to win the game. Ben Anthony’s header was pushed out by the ‘keeper and Lee Bryce followed up to score the winner.

Haws boss Jock Finlayson was a relieved man at time-up, “Maybe it was due to the lack of action through the weather conditions but we never really got going.

“Yes we huffed and puffed about the Armadale box but did not piece together many telling moves, but it was really all about picking up the three points.” Kinnoull 0, Dundonald Bluebell 5.

EAST Premier League strugglers Kinnoull were no match for a Dundonald Bluebell team that still has high hopes of being in the promotion shake-up at the end of the season.

After their home defeat at the hands of Dalkeith two weeks ago, Bluebell made a good start and Jamie Gilfillan knocked in the opener after 11 minutes.

Kinnoull defended gallantly and managed to contain a lot of Dundonald pressure but a second goal had to come and with eight minutes to go before the interval Lyle Shaw’s effort beat the ‘keeper.

Still Kinnoull defended well and it took Bluebell until the 68th minute to tie up the points when Tommy Carr’s fine volley gave the ‘keeper no chance.

Dundonald went in search of more goals and in 84 minutes Lewis Elder slotted away number four and in the closing seconds the same player added the fifth.

Bluebell general manager, Allan Halliday, was delighted with the win, “We let ourselves down against Dalkeith and we needed to get that out of our system.

“It was a good performance and we need to build on that in the coming weeks to maintain our push for promotion to the Super League.” Dunbar United 2, Lochgelly Albert 2.

A GOOD South Division point for Albert but they left it late to hit back against a determined Dunbar side.

However, things looked good for Lochgelly in six minutes when a United defender got in a right fankle and lofted the ball past his own ‘keeper.

But Dunbar were soon probing the Albert rearguard and in 24 minutes they levelled from the penalty spot.

The game became a bit of a stalemate for a spell and it remained at 1-1 at the break but two minutes after the interval there was controversy.

A cross appeared to be knocked into the Lochgelly net by the use of an arm but the referee awarded it and such was the annoyance of Berts’ coach Craig Ness, he was ordered from the dug out by the whistler.

Albert came back strongly and there were chances which went abegging but with two minutes to go Darren Seath’s low cross was bundled into his own net by a Dunbar defender.

There was still time for Lochgelly to miss two good chances through Trialist and Martin Perrie.

Crossgates Primrose 1, Tranent 4.

BOTTOM of the South Division, Crossgates Primrose, were always second best against Tranent in this South Division game at Humbug Park.

The opening stages were close enough and Tranent edged in front early on and then added another. But Primrose hit back through Dale Prattis to keep their hopes alive.

However a couple more goals came from Tranent and although Crossgates kept working hard when they lost the third in the second-half the steam went out of their challenge.

Although they never gave up the young Primrose side just could not get the goal which could have opened up the chance of a point and a late fourth sealed another blank day for Crossgates.

Lochore Welfare 1, Kennoway Star Hearts 7.

WITHOUT seeing action for some weeks Lochore looked very ring rusty against Star and they ended up a well beaten side in this North Division clash.

But for the first 45 minutes there was nothing in the game and it was after the break that things started to go wrong for the home side.

The first-half hour was very even with both sides creating half chances but there were no goals.

However, Star struck just on the half hour to take the lead but within a matter of a few minutes Willie Campbell had squared things.

There was no suggestion at this stage of what was to happen and when Star missed a penalty things looked OK, but when Kennoway took the lead in the second period Welfare’s resistance started to fade.

A couple of goals put the game Kennoway’s way and in the closing minutes the Welfare side, without three regulars, completely fell out of the picture and three more goals completed a bad day for the hosts.

Saturday’s fixtures, McBookie.com East Super League, Kelty Hearts v Linlithgow Rose, Hill of Beath Hawthorn v Boness United.

McBookie.com East Premier League, Arniston Rangers v Dundonald Bluebell.

McBookie South Division, Lochgelly Albert v Blackburn United, Harthill Royal v Crossgates Primrose. D J Laing East of Scotland Cup, Lochore Welfare v Dunbar United (all games 2.15pm).