Bathgate draw as McGrillen tragedy sets in

Aug 13 2009 by Eric MacKinnon, West Lothian Courier

Thistle draw as McGrillen tragedy overshadows start of League Cup

THE curtain came up on another Junior football season on Saturday with the League Cup kicking the campaign into top gear.

In Section One Bathgate were in action for the first time since the tragic death of Paul McGrillen and with the match coming just 24 hours after his funeral it was no surprise their minds were elsewhere.

Fraser Love gave the Jags a lead against Sauchie but it was cancelled out before the end as the two sides shared the spoils.

Harthill had a tough game on their hands as well in the shape of Super League heavyweights Camelon.

But the West Lothian side refused to be intimidated by the lofty reputation of their opponents and were only narrowly beaten 2-1.

There was a local derby at Stoneyburn where the hosts fell to a 2-1 defeat to county neighbours Blackburn.

In Section Two Fauldhouse and Broxburn shared the points following a 1–1 draw but it was Whitburn who caught the eye with a 5–0 drubbing of South Division side Dalkeith.

Moving on to Section Three and Linlithgow Rose hit Pumpherston for seven but boss Dave Baikie reckoned it should have been double figures.

Tommy Coyne scored twice while Gordon Herd, Keith Hogg, Murray McDowell, Craig McEwan and Roddy McLennan were also on target for the rampant Rosey Posey.

But Baikie expects more from his side who will rank among the favourites for the Super League title this season.

He said: “We scored seven but it could easily have been a few more because we missed at least three very good chances.

“But the pleasing thing for me was that we had six different goalscorers and the goals came from all areas of the team.”

Elsewhere in the county, Armadale thumped West Calder 4–1 to show they are ready for the Premier League battles ahead.

But the biggest surprise of the day was the defeat of Whitburn’s main rivals Bo’ness being beaten by Edinburgh by a single goal to nil.