East of Scotland League: Lothian Thistle drop first points

Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale dropped their first points of the season as they were held to a remarkable 5-5 draw with city rivals Leith Athletic at Ainslie Park.

St Cuthbert's top in South of Scotland league

The reigning East of Scotland League champions had raced into a first-half 3-0 lead with Keith Murray, Willis Hare and Dylan Moore all on target. But goals from James Redpath and Callum Mein gave Leith hope before Ryan Hutchison made it 4-2. Redpath netted his second of the afternoon to cut Lothian’s lead but Murray again restored Raymond Carr’s side’s two-goal advantage.

However, Sonny Swanson and then Stefan Hay’s 88th-minute strike earned the visitors a well-deserved point in what was a quite remarkable 90 minutes.

Lothian now trail league leaders Kelty Hearts by 11 points but do have three games in hand. They will attempt to close the gap to eight points tonight with the visit of Burntisland Shipyard to Saughton Enclosure. They then play Eyemouth United on Wednesday night before a showdown with Kelty on Saturday.

Tynecastle won 5-0 at Burntisland while, in the King Cup second round, Preston beat East Lothian rivals Ormiston 3-2 after extra-time at the Pennypit. Heriot-Watt University were knocked out of the competition losing 5-1 to Kelty at Oriam.