Scottish Cup joy for rose

Oct 4 2007 By Eric Mackinnon, West Lothian Courier

‘HAIL the gallant Rosey Posey,’ was the cry ringing around Blairmount Park as Linlithgow Rose made their mark on the Scottish Cup under the watchful eye of SFA Chief Executive Gordon Smith and the BBC cameras.

On their historic debut in Scotland’s flagship cup competition, the West Lothian side obliterated Newton Stewart 6-0 in their own back yard to book a second round date.

Linlithgow’s prize is a home draw against capital side Spartans on Saturday, October 27.

Last Saturday, Rose stepped into unchartered territory on the hilltop park in Dumfries and Galloway accompanied by 500 diehard fans.

Goal machine Brian Carrigan opened the scoring from the spot on the half-hour mark and notched the club’s historic first goal in the competition after Ian McSween was hauled down by Alan McCulloch.

Despite their dominance on the game, Rose had to wait until the stroke of half-time for their second goal when Gordon Herd doubled their advantage.

Linlithgow picked up where they left off in the second-half and threatened to overrun their tiring opponents. Stuart McArthur volleyed home number three before McSween grabbed the fourth.

It was all one-way traffic and Pinkowski in the visitors goal was a virtual spectator.

There was no respite for the Creesiders as Carrigan grabbed his second of the game five minutes from the end before Herd put the gloss on a day to remember in the final minute with a controlled finish.

Rose boss Jim Sinnet was delighted with his side’s showing and feels they proved they deserve their chance on the Scottish Cup stage.

“The decision to allow Junior clubs into the cup was not met with everyone’s approval but we’ve taken a big support to a town like this and given a lot to the community.

“It’s a long trip for the fans to make but they deserve their chance as well. They were terrific.

“As for the next round, I’ll take a side like them at home any day. We won’t get carried away with this result but we’ll learn from it.

“Gordon Smith came into the dressing room to congratulate us and he was delighted for us as he was one who backed the decision to let the Junior clubs in and we didn’t let him down.”

Frontman Brian Carrigan, who grabbed the club’s first ever Scottish Cup goal, was thrilled to ge the chance to wear the Rose shirt on the national stage.

“We’re delighted to get this chance and delighted with the way we won the game,” he added. “They didn’t give much away at the back and we had to work hard to break them down.

“There were some people who thought we would fall flat on our faces but we proved them wrong.

“The support we’ve had has been superb and we know it will be the same in the next round

“It’s been too big a day to let the club down. We had to do a professional job and we’ll need to do it in the next round.

“It has been a great day all round. The support has been brilliant , the game was great, the atmosphere was superb and were going home happy.”

This was a day which belonged to Linlithgow and the other junior sides making their debut in the competition.

The four junior newcomers who made their Scottish Cup debuts on Saturday flew the flag for Junior Football with pride and their displays have reignited the touch paper on the merits of implementing a pyramid system similar to the one in England, where clubs can rise through the various league set-ups to enter senior football.

And the feeling of euphoria lasted long after the final whistle and one Rose fan quipped to Gordon Smith after the game, ‘six more games and we’re in Europe’.

Whether the East Super League champions will make it that far is debatable but they have proved the standard of football in the Junior ranks can make a splash on the national stage.

Newton Stewart: Fidler, Gallacher (MacLeod 83), Fletcher, Hislop (Taylor 63), C Wilson, McCulloch, Ross, G Wilson, Cloy (Fisher 71), N Hislop, Rennie. Subs not used: Shepherd, Syme.

Linlithgow Rose: Pinkowski, Tyrrell, Donnelly (Donaldson 63), Denham, McDermott, McArthur (Courts 78), Hogg, Bradley (Feeney 71), McSween, Carrigan, Herd. Subs not used: McGlynn, Burnett.