East of Scotland: Manager praises Linlithgow; Bonnyrigg move five clear

Rose, sent tumbling out of the SFA South Region Challenge Cup by Shire last weekend, leapfrogged Broxburn in the table thanks to a 3-0 win at Prestonfield.

Bradley said: “After that result last week, I saw that the Shire were beaten by Edinburgh University on Friday. I told our lads that when teams play us they feel they have to raise their standards to beat us. We have to respond to that challenge and that’s what happened on Saturday.

“I am the first to have a go at them if they let the standards down but, equally, if they play well, then I’m the first to praise them and on Saturday they played really well against a tough side who came here to beat us.

“We had to wait until the second half to get the breakthrough but we deserved it because we were in charge. Overall, I’m delighted with the response we got from the players.”

Linlithgow had a lot of possession in the opening 45 minutes but Broxburn, with Ross Nimmo and ex-Linlithgow player Connor Kelly looking dangerous, always put the home defence under pressure.

The hosts were awarded a soft penalty only three minutes after the restart for a push in the box with Tommy Coyne scoring from the spot. A couple of minutes later, Owen Ronald turned and fired an effort into the net off the far post then, in injury time, Blair Batchelor scored Rose’s third.

Elsewhere, Conference B leaders Bonnyrigg moved five points clear with a 4-0 win at Haddington. Rose took a Ewan Moyes goal into the break with Lewis Turner adding a goal five minutes into the second half.

Keiran McGachie grabbed a double within a couple of minutes on the hour.

In Conference A, Musselburgh claimed a 2-0 victory at Hill of Beath while Leith Athletic and Peebles served up a 2-2 draw.

Craigroyston took an early lead in their Conference C clash at Preston with a goal from Ross Nisbet but the home side equalised just before the hour through Jack Jardine, The visitors won the game with a late strike from Harry Girdwood.