Lowland League round-up: Whitehill ship five to Shire

David Greenhill grabbed a double for Spartans

LOWLAND LEAGUE

Whitehill Welfare 2

East Stirlingshire 5

Three second-half goals in nine minutes secured an away win for the Shire in a dramatic game. With just 75 seconds gone, Jamie Glasgow’s deflected free-kick from a tight angle beat Bryan Young at his near post and the visitors led. Andy Martin levelled shortly after following up a saved John Hall header before John Sludden nutmegged the keeper to restore the Shire’s lead. Hall and Martin again combined on 36 minutes with the forward making it 2-2 with a diving header. The home side were on top after half-time but Derek Ure curled in a free-kick on 70 minutes to make it 3-2. Moments later, Sludden teed up Glasgow to score his second of the game before he then turned provider, crossing for David Grant to tap in a fifth.

Whitehill Welfare: Young, Hall, O’Hara, Murray, Williams, McGregor (Dodds 73), Manson (Brydon 82), Martin, Connolly, Keane, Osbourne (S.Moffat 65) Subs: S.Hislop, A Moffat, Jardine

East Stirlingshire: Shaw, MacGregor, A.Grant, Buist (Murray 44), Greene, Comrie (Rodgers 65), Hogg  (McGuigan 60), Ure, D.Grant, Sludden, Glasgow.

Edinburgh University 0

Dalbeattie Star 1

Dalbeattie were the first to settle against a relatively-inexperienced University side and early chances fell to Sloan and Anderson. A series of corners were stoutly defended by the home side but, on 26 minutes, a well-flighted cross from the right by Fergusson was headed home by Tommy Muir from eight yards out. Edinburgh responded and there was a chance for Evans which was well saved by Parker and then a drive from Rawlinson which clipped the post. Dalbeattie looked dangerous in attack but Edinburgh came into the match more in the second half. However, Dalbeattie contained the attacking threat posed by Guthrie. In the closing minutes, there were chances for Edinburgh’s Scott and Guthrie, both well-saved and then Evans broke clear on the left only to hit the side-netting with his fierce drive.

Edinburgh University: Tait, Swinney (Smith), Murray, Vila, Irvine, Daniels-Yeoman, Evans, Rawlinson, Guthrie, Frain (Verkaik), Connington (Scott). Subs: Ness, Pacitti, Davison.

Dalbeattie Star: Parker, Todd (Wilson), Thorburn, Dunghnson, Maxwell, Wells, Muir (Mason), Fergusson, Anderson (Mason), Sloan, McHarrie. Sub: Morton.

FOOTBALL NATION QUALIFYING CUP

Civil Service Strollers 2

Peebles Rovers 0

Steven Froude scored twice for Strollers, taking his tally to four since joining the Capital club a fortnight ago. He broke the deadlock in 15 minutes, bursting clear of the Peebles defence and tucking the ball into the bottom corner of the net. In the second half, Strollers continued to put pressure on the Peebles goal and a well-worked goal, with Froude finishing off a good cross into the box, clinched victory. Strollers had good opportunities to add to their lead through Chris Milligan, Jordan Finnie, Craig Newall and Barry Milven but the chances went begging.

Civil Service Strollers: Burnside, Milligan, Laird, Turnbull, Milven, Newall, Downie, Clapperton, Stewart, Boyle, Froude. Subs: Finnie, McWhirter, Rixon, Law, Kidd, Crane.

Preston Athletic 3

Burntisland Shipyard 2

Burntisland goalkeeper Christopher Brown performed heroics to keep the East of Scotland side in this tie. The hosts led 3-1 at the interval, Kenny Park (2) and Michael Park latching onto defensive lapses, but the visitors grabbed a lifeline with a goal from Euan Aitken right on the half-time whistle after Preston failed to clear a free-kick. A controversial second-half penalty, initially saved by Craig Pennycuick, was bundled home by Ben Couper, then Preston’s Daryl Wilson saw red for a second booking but the home side held on.

Preston Athletic: Pennycuick, Cowan, Cochrane, Rogers, Wilson, Barclay, Henderson, Colquhoun, K Park (Lawson), M Park (Jardine), Douglas (Glen). Subs: Scott, Muir.

Burntisland: Brown, Ford, Fleming, Couper, McIntosh, Kay, L Thompson, Bowman (Maxwell), Aitken, Payne, K Thompson.

Spartans 5

Gala Fairydean Rovers 2

Spartans progressed into round two despite the visitors taking an eighth-minute lead through Jack Hay. Eddie Malone equalised shortly after and the home side went ahead courtesy of a David Greenhill strike. Hay’s second of the day restored parity just after the break. However, Chris Townsley opened his account on his return to Ainslie Park before Jamie Dishington put further light between the teams. Greenhill completed the scoring with five minutes left.

Spartans: Carswell, Herd, Malone, Ward (Brown), Tolmie, Greenhill, Beesley (Gabiola), Dishington, Townsley, Horribine (Raiker), Stevenson. Subs (Unused) Mair, Maxwell, Thomson, Gilpin.

Gala Fairydean Rovers: Newman, Stephen, McColm, Waugh, Main, Hope, Smith, Watson, Noble, Hay, Aitchison. Subs: Clapperton, Collins, Herdman, Bonnington, Landford, Lamb, Allan.