Whitburn hold Newburgh to Junior Cup replay

Nov 3 2011 by Kieran Westbrook, West Lothian Courier

A SCOTT Meldrum equaliser earned Whitburn another crack at a place in the third round draw.

His 55th-minute equaliser cancelled out Scott Finlay’s first half opener for Newburgh and kept the Wee Burnie’s cup hopes alive.

Whitburn got out of the blocks quickly against their Fife opponents and almost scored in the first minute after good work by Mark Sharp down the line led to a goalline scramble, which Newburgh cleared.

Finlay created panic in the home defence when his cross was deflected high in the air off Willie Rodger and goalkeeper Frannie Carlin fumbled under pressure before gathering the loose ball.

However, Newburgh soon broke the deadlock midway through the first half when Finlay’s 30-yard drive found the bottom corner.

After the break, Meldrum eased Whitburn nerves when he fired them back on level terms. His direct run down the right ended when he neatly lifted his shot over the advancing keeper to open his scoring account for the Wee Burnie.

The goal galvanised the home side and Rodger had a shot which was saved after good work on the left from Blair Young.

Then Newburgh showed their threat again when a James Scott shot was deflected wide by Rodger following a corner. Then Billie Carle forced a good save from Carlin from all of 30 yards.

Whitburn took over again when sub Darren Wilson fired in a good cross that Andy Gordon glanced wide.

Then fellow defender Gregor McDonald had a good header well saved by the keeper.

The final action saw a fine reflex save from the keeper from a glancing Young header at the near post.

But neither side could grab the winner and both sides will again do battle this weekend – at Newburgh’s East Shore Park.