Coyne pounces to rescue Linlithgow Rose

Oct 15 2009 by Eric MacKinnon, West Lothian Courier

TOMMY COYNE rescued a point for Linlithgow Rose with a derby leveller in a hotly contested match at Prestonfield on Saturday.

The Rose striker pounced with a neat back-post header on 72 minutes to square up matters in a fiery clash that was twice held up because of smoke bombs being chucked onto the field of play from the crowd.

Coyne celebrated his winner in the vicinity of the Bo’ness fans and had a multitude of objects lobbed towards him – including an egg.

He said: “A few things came flying my way and even an egg just missed my face at one point.

“I was getting a bit of a hard time off them but scoring the goal seemed to keep them quiet for a bit.

“There was a fair amount of banter going on but that’s part and parcel of these big derby games.

“We’ve had too many draws in the league but I definitely think we have a team who can go on and win this division.

“There’s very little between all the sides but I was really impressed with Bo’ness.

“They have really improved from last season and they’ll be up there challenging.

“I think that if we finish above them then we’ll win the league.”

Coyne’s well-timed run and glance into the net laid the foundations for a powerful finish to the match for Rose but it was the league leaders who extended their advantage at the top of the table as their nearest challengers, Newtongrange Star and Musselburgh, both lost.

Chris McFadyen had given Bo’ness the lead against their nearby rivals after 31 minutes when arrowed a shot home from an acute angle.

And Bo’ness could even have taken all three points had Darren Gribben’s 25-yard volley been a few inches lower.

Instead it clipped the bar and flew over the top.

But moments later Coyne nodded in a Stuart McArthur corner at the back post to level the game up.

Gribben also came within inches of an injury-time winner but boss Allan McGonigal reckoned it was his side’s worst display of a season already showing great signs of promise.

He said: “That’s probably our worst performance of the season.

“We got a bit deep in the second half and were a wee bit off the pace. But it says a lot for how far we’ve come in a very short space of time that we are coming away from a place from Linlithgow disappointed only to have drawn.

“We’ve set high standards this season and the challenge is to meet them every week.

“Losing a goal to a set-piece is very frustrating but we’ve only lost two goals in five league games, both from set-pieces.”

Rose boss Dave Baikie added: “Our injury situation has been pretty horrendous. I made six changes again here and took a gamble on a couple of lads who weren’t near match fit.

“We controlled it for long spells and I’m disappointed we didn’t snatch a win.”