Broxburn leave it late to edge county rivals Armadale but retain title tilt

Mar 10 2011 by Eric MacKinnon, West Lothian Courier

BROXBURN boss Stevie Pittman watched his table-toppers claw their way back from 3-1 down to win a topsy-turvy clash at Volunteer Park against their county neighbours and admitted it had been a ‘strange match.’

But he praised his side for never giving up and insisted their second-half performance meant the three points prize they earned was richly deserved.

He said: “It was a strange game to say the least but it turned out fine in the end.

“We didn’t play at all in the first-half and I did lose my cool in the dressing room at half-time.

“But to be fair to the boys they did exactly what I asked in the second-half and although we left it late we won it.

“Armadale couldn’t adjust to our system and didn’t really get out of their own half.”

Pittman has warned his promotion hopefuls they can’t afford to drop any points if they want to make the step up to the Superleague but they had a disastrous start as Armadale’s Scott Brown fired his side in front straight from kick-off.

There was less than 50-seconds on the clock when Brown fired home.

Broxburn rallied and levelled on 37 minutes through Chris Geddes.

They didn’t stay on level terms for long though as Craig Chilton restored the Dale’s advantage just three minutes later.

And then just two minutes on from taking the lead they doubled it when Jamie Valentine steered home a spot-kick to make it 3-1.

The Dale looked certain winners as Broxburn’s title aspirations looked set for a dent but they snatched victory from the jaws of defeat with three goals in seven late minutes to win it.

Stuart Cairns and Paul Shields netted to level before Shields scored again to win it in dramatic fashion at the death.

Armadale manager Jim Henderson was left to bemoan his side’s late collapse which cost his side dearly.

He added: “We lost three-goals in seven minutes which cost us the game.

“We were winning 3-1 at half-time and did what we had to do in the second-half.

“We were defending well but had to make a couple of subs which turned the game.

“I’m also unhappy with their fourth goal which won the match but it was given and there’s nothing that can be done about it now.”