East of Scotland Premier League – 30th July 2022
Blackburn United 1 Richards 79
Linlithgow Rose 1 Andrews 90+2
Burnie had Craig Saunders, Danny Campbell unavailable, David Wilson suspended and Fraser Cormack nursing an injury, with Richie Hutton filling-in at right-back and Dominic Kane back from holiday and on the bench.
Burnie had the ball in the net after 5 minutes when Luke Meikle angled a shot past Binnie but the referee’s whistle blew for offside. A few minutes later at the other end Mark Stowe cut inside and curled a shot off Welna’s far post and out for a goal kick.
Burnie were struggling to gain any foothold in the game and it was Stowe again who broke clear and clashed with Welna inside the area but referee Struthers waved away shouts for a penalty. It was Welna again who kept the scores level when a free kick into the box resulted in a bit of a stramash with Welna saving a couple of close range efforts and the ball crashing off the bar before being hacked to safety.
On 35 minutes there were more calls for a penalty when Kyle McLung dived into a challenge on Stowe on the left hand edge of the six yard box and appeared to bring him down without getting to the ball, but the referee awarded a corner kick instead, and Burnie survived the half without conceding.
The second half continue in the same vein but it was sub Scott Richards, on for Sam Thomas at the half, who almost opened the scoring on 62 minutes when he curled a shot beyond Binnie but watched it cannon back off the post. Linlithgow then nearly took the lead on 75 minutes but for a piece of brilliant goalkeeping, a cross deep to the back post was met by that man again Stowe, his header looked goal bound before Welna clawed it over the bar.
Blackburn then, for the first time in the game, exerted a bit of pressure and it paid dividends. Firstly Binnie was caught in no mans land but Michael Gould’s effort from distance flew over, then a minute later Kieran Sweeney broke the offside trap and bore down on Binnie, but the keeper got a heel to the shot and the ball crept past. However from Hutton’s corner kick, Scott Richards glanced a fantastic header into the far corner of the net to give Burnie the lead.
With time running out the lead was almost doubled when from a free kick out by the right corner flag, the ball was again met by Richards but his effort was hacked off the line by Allison.
With the game moving into injury time Linlithgow finally made their dominance count when from an in- swinging corner, the ball was deflected goalwards which deceived Welna and ended up in the net, with Own Andrews claiming it.
Blackburn United: Jakub Welna, Richie Hutton, Kyle McClung, James Mildren, Marcus Millar, David Howe (Dominic Kane 75), Calum Heath (Kieran Sweeney 59), Daryl Meikle, Laurie Devine (Trialist 81), Sam Thomas (Scott Richards 46), Luke Meikle (Michael Gould 75). Unused subs: Gavin King, Joe Osbourne.
Linlithgow Rose: Cameron Binnie, Cameron Thomson, Gary Thom, Liam Allison, Greg Skinner, Mark Stowe, Sean Heaver (Owen Andrew 60), Conor McKenzie, Jack Ogilvie (Alex Cunningham 68), Greg MacPherson, Callum Bremner. Unused subs: Lewis McMinn, Alex Webb, Ben Davidson, Trialist, Jamie Allan.
Referee: Rhys Struthers Assistants: Stuart Gray, Richard Kay.