Lowland League round-up: Civil Service Strollers stun Gretna

Scott Moffat scored for Whitehill after coming off the bench

Gretna 2008 0

Civil Service Strollers 4

Civil Service Strollers pulled off the shock result of the weekend with a this superb win at Raydale Park. Having lost their league opener 5-0 to Hawick, few had given the division’s newcomers any real chance here. However, it was a terrific display from Alex Cunningham’s men. Brad Rixon’s goal had the visitors ahead at the break. Steven Froude doubled Civil’s lead before the striker grabbed his second with a smart finish. Davy Stewart netted a late fourth to complete a memorable afternoon for the Christie Gillies Park outfit.

Gretna 2008: Ballantyne, Brannan, Wadge, Hunter, Dickinson, Addison, McCartney, Hope, Sheil, Grandison, Simpson. Subs: Studholme, Rudd, Murray, Wood, Casey, Neil, Armstrong.

Civil Service Strollers: Burnside, Milligan, Dingwall, Laird, Turnbull, Rixon (Boyle), Stewart, Downie (McWhirter), Ballantyne, Finnie (Clapperton), Froude. Subs: Brown, Watson, Law.

Hawick Royal Albert 2

Whitehill Welfare 3

Whitehill travelled to face Hawick, who hosted Lowland League football for the first time. With a quarter of an hour on the clock, Dale O’Hara’s corner kick was met by the head of John Williams and the big defender gave the visitors the lead. As half-time approached, the home side were gifted an opportunity to equalise. A mix-up between goalkeeper and defender allowed Ryan Stevenson in to make it 1-1. On 56 minutes, Whitehill introduced Scott Moffat and the forward made an immediate impact arriving at the back post to meet a John Hall cross from the right to restore his side’s lead. Josh Morris was played through on goal and he calmly finished by Bryan Young to make it 2-2 with 20 minutes remaining. With five minutes to go, Welfare substitute Connor Brydon rounded goalkeeper Mark Ewan and was brought down. Dale O’Hara stepped up and scored from the spot to secure the three points for Steven Hislop’s men.

Hawick Royal Albert: Rankin, Stevenson, Spence, Boyd, Trialist, Connaghan, McPartlin, Meikle, Morris, Mitchell, McNally. Subs: McEwan, Pettigrew, Darling, Begbie, Johnson, Robertson.

Whitehill Welfare: Young, Hall, O’Hara, Murray, Williams, McGregor, Martin, Connolly, Osbourne, Trialist, A Moffat. Subs: Manson, Dodds, Keane, Brydon, S.Moffat, Russell, Paterson.

Preston Athletic 1

BSC Glasgow 1

Preston started the match well and had a great opportunity to take the lead on three minutes as a trademark Gavin Stevenson run into the box was crudely halted. Neil Shave took the spot-kick but keeper Joe Wilton showed great athleticism to get a hand to the ball and push away for a corner. Frazer Henderson then fired in a free kick that was only narrowly missed by three on-rushing Preston players. Preston again took the initiative in the second period and were ahead on 47 minutes when Greg Douglas cut in from the left beat three defenders created space in the box and rifled home. The lead only lasted five minutes as a long ball caught out Darryl Wilson who slipped on the wet surface and Jones ran through to slot between Bruce Callan’s legs for the equaliser.

Preston Athletic: Callan, Stevenson, Cochrane, Siegel, Wilson, Barclay, Henderson, K.Park (Jardine), Shave (Erskine), M.Park, Douglas. Subs: Pennycuick, Lawson, Muir, Rogers, Innes.

BSC Glasgow: Wilton, Trialist, Traynor, Niven (Newlands), Toner, Dryden (Woods), Beckett (Keys), Cunningham, Jones, Redpath, Ferris. Subs: E Bembo, Trialist.