Chris Townsley pleased by character shown in Broxburn Athletic's 3-1 win against Whitehill Welfare

Broxburn Athletic boss Chris Townsley hailed his side’s character after they came from a goal behind to beat Whitehill Welfare 3-1 in tough conditions at Albyn Park to make it three league victories on the trot.

Cammy Ross netted twice in the 3-1 win against Whitehill Welfare

The West Lothian men have bounced back tremendously after their opening-day horror show at Penicuik, a match they lost 4-1 as they looked well off the pace against a side they would hope to compete with at the top end of the East of Scotland Premier.

Townsley’s side found themselves a goal behind at half-time on Saturday courtesy of a goal from a Whitehill trialist, but they braved the wind and rain in the second half with a double from Cammy Ross, his fifth and sixth goals of the season, and an effort from striker Gary Brass.

‘Brutal’ conditions

“We’ve been steadily improving thankfully - we couldn’t have got much worse than the start to the season that we had,” said Townsley. “Whitehill came into it on the back of a difficult result against Tranent and I don’t think that helped us much.

"Janny [Neil Janczyk, Whitehill manager] knows his football and he had them really well up for it and well organised, so it was a difficult game.

“The conditions were brutal but we seemed to cope with it that bit better in the second half. We showed a bit of character, it was pleasing to come back from a goal behind. We needed it as Tranent have started the season really well and we don’t want to get too far behind too early.

“I’m hoping the Penicuik game was just a bad day at the office. We’ve bounced back well and the full squad has contributed, everyone has stepped up so that’s been really pleasing.”

Next up for Broxburn is a midweek clash away to Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale on Wednesday, who maintained their 100 per cent start to the season with a 3-0 defeat of Crossgates. Townsley’s reckons this match will give a true reflection of where his men are at currently.

He continued: “It will be a real test for us. The last time we played on grass was against Penicuik so we have something to prove. Lothian have started really well and we know what to expect, I think. We will definitely drill into the boys how important a game and how hard a game it will be.

“Lothian have set the bar, and it’s not as if they’ve had an easy start to the season either so if we can go there and get a result it would definitely put us back in the mix.”

Tranent maintain winning run

Elsewhere, Tranent Juniors made it six victories from six games as they thumped Inverkeithing Hillfield Swifts 5-1 away from home. First half goals from Kayne Paterson and Adam Watson had Calum Elliot’s side well on top at the break.

The home side did pull a goal back in the second half, but a Ben Miller free-kick put them 3-1 up. Incredibly, Tranent goalkeeper Ally Adams scored from his own half to make it four, before Bradley Barrett got in on the act.

There were also victories for Edinburgh United, Edinburgh South and Haddington Athletic in 1st Division Conference A, while Heriot Watt University consolidated top spot in Conference B with a 4-2 win away to Kinnoull.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our sports coverage with a digital sports subscription.