Nine-man Bathgate taken apart by Newtongrange

Nov 12 2009 by Alistair Watson, West Lothian Courier

THERE was a mixed bag of results for the county’s other Junior teams who were in action at the weekend.

Nine-man Bathgate went down to an away 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Newtongrange Star.

Bathgate had the best of the first-half but couldn’t convert the chances they had.

After the break, Newtongrange quickly took control. First, Grant Meaney opened the scoring before Stuart Roseburgh doubled their lead.

Bathgate then gave away a free-kick, which resulted in Gary Fallon and Willie Wilson both being sent-off, leaving them with nine men for the remainder of the match.

To make matters worse, Newtongrange scored their third from the resulting free-kick.

Sub Ubong Umatang scored a super individual goal in the dying minutes to complete the rout.

In the Premier League, Armadale lost 3-1 at home to Carnoustie, while Fauldhouse were pegged back to a 2-2 draw by Montrose. On the scoresheet for Fauldhouse were Martyn O’Neill and Craig Meechan.

In the South Division, Spartans drew at home 1-1 with Broxburn, with Stewart Ritchie getting the visitor’s goal. Edinburgh beat Pumpherston 4-2, who had Steve Norris and James Sommerville on the scoresheet.

West Calder had a good 2-0 win at Haddington, while Blackburn proved they are on top spot on merit after travelling to Tranent and securing a superb 2-1 win. Alan Brown and Grant Prenderleith got the goals which keep Mark Campbell’s men top of the league.

Finally, Harthill visited Dunbar but went down to a 3-1 defeat, with John Connolly grabbing their consolation.

In the Scottish Junior Cup second round, Whitburn produced a good performance to win 3-0 away to Sauchie.

It was a comfortable win for Whitburn as they chase the big one. Andy Doig gave them the lead in the first-half before Kevin Donnelly and then Steven Weir added to the opener.

Elsewhere, Stoneyburn lost 5-3 at home to Kilwinning in their second round replay.