East of Scotland: Leith Athletic bounce back after cup defeat

Leith Athletic captain Neil Lowson says it was important he and his team-mates got back to winning ways following last midweek's William Hill Scottish Cup first-round replay exit to Cumbernauld Colts.
Leith depart the Broadwood pitch after a 1-0 Scottish Cup defeat by Cumbernauld ColtsLeith depart the Broadwood pitch after a 1-0 Scottish Cup defeat by Cumbernauld Colts
Leith depart the Broadwood pitch after a 1-0 Scottish Cup defeat by Cumbernauld Colts

Owen Ronald’s solitary strike was enough to overcome Derek Riddel’s men at the second time of asking last Wednesday, but the reigning East of Scotland League champions put that disappointment to one side on Saturday with a 6-0 win at Burntisland Shipyard to maintain their perfect start to their title-defence.

A Rhys Craigie brace plus further efforts from Chris Beaton, James Hainey, Lewis Tracey and Gavin Kneeshaw saw Leith overrun their opponents in Fife.

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“Obviously with it being our first game since being knocked out of the Scottish Cup everyone was a little bit down,” 25-year-old Lowson explained. “But it was good to get back to winning ways so quickly with the cup game being midweek so there wasn’t time to dwell on things.

“I don’t actually think we played too well against Burntisland but it was just important to get the win. We’re aiming to win the league again this year, we’ve been quite lucky because we’ve had a couple of home games to ease ourselves in but we’ve got Tynecastle in a couple of weeks which will be a tough match. We just take each game as it comes but we want to get ourselves back into the Scottish Cup and the only way to guarantee that at this moment in time is to win the league.

“We change our squad up a lot so guys who are coming in want to do well and take their chance. It keeps everyone on their toes and rules out that complacency.”

Elsewhere, Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale swept aside Capital rivals Tynecastle 3-0 at Saughton Enclosure to keep up their 100 per cent record this term. Raymond Carr’s men still have two matches in hand over current leaders Leith.

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Meanwhile, Heriot-Watt University are up to third following a 3-1 victory over Stirling University at Gannochy Sports Centre. The students are also undefeated in the league so far with three wins from as many games.

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