East of Scotland Premier League – Saturday 16th April 2022
Broxburn Athletic 0
Blackburn United 1 (Heath 87)
The West Lothian derby took a little while to settle down and the first real chance wasn’t created until 15 minutes in when good work by Richie Hutton on the left wing tied his marker in knots and his cross into the box fell to Calum Heath who’s shot was blocked and Dominic Kane’s follow up crept past.
Six minutes later it was Hutton again on the left and his cross was begging to be converted but Jack Garrad just failed to get his head to the ball. Moments later at the other end, the homesters created their first chance when Donaldson got free on the right and crossed for Gary Brass to glance a header wide.
Nearing the half hour mark, Andrew Mair floated a cross in which caught in the wind and Jamie Smith had to be alert to tip it over the bar, then right on the half time whistle, Heath got on the end of yet another Hutton cross but his diving header went wide.
Three minutes after the re-start Blackburn almost took the lead when, from a corner, David Howe cut inside his marker and curled in a shot from the edge of the box which Wallace did well to tip round the post. On 57 minutes Adam Murray flashed a shot over from a corner as Broxburn struggled to create any clear cut chances.
With 12 minutes remaining Richie Hutton was in the thick of the action again, letting fly from 25 yards which Wallace managed to tip over the bar, two minutes later from a corner, Marcus Millar went down amidst claims of shirt pulling but referee Gamble waved away the claims.
However a penalty was awarded with three minute remaining, a corner was cleared to Hutton, he lofted the ball back into the box and Wallace came through the back of Fergus Owens attempting to punch it clear and flattened him. Michael Browne had only been on the pitch a matter of minutes but stepped up to take the kick, however Wallace got down well to block it, but the alert Calum Heath got to the rebound ahead of Nimmo and fired it into the back of the net to claim a crucial and deserved three points.
Broxburn Athletic: Conor Wallace, Craig Newall, Gordon Donaldson, Adam Murray (Chris Townsley 84), Daniel Nimmo, Greg Nicol, Joe Tait, Andrew Gillen, Gary Brass, Jackson Barker, Andrew Mair (Greg Binnie 60). Unused subs: Michael Beagley, David Greenhill, Shaun Donoghue.
Blackburn United: Jamie Smith, James Mildren, John Drummond, Fergus Owens, Marcus Millar, Daryl Meikle, Richard Hutton, Dominic Kane, Jack Garrad, David Howe (Michael Browne 84), Calum Heath. Unused subs: Laurie Devine, Kyle McClung, David Wilson, Jack Sayers, Craig Saunders.
Referee: Andy Gamble Assistants: Andrew Brown, Cameron Sanderson.