Peebles Rovers 1

Leith Athletic 3

Neil Hobson at Whitestone Park

LEITH got their revenge over Rovers as they hit them for three in a fiery encounter at Whitestone Park.

Ger Rossi’s side faced the wrath of a Leith team hungry for vengeance, after Rovers dismantled the reigning King Cup champions 4-1 at Whitestone Park in July.

Matters were made worse when Rovers keeper Ben McGinley, picked up an ankle injury in the first half- with the former Whitehill man now facing a potential two-month spell on the sidelines.

And Rossi claims that Leith boss, Steven Chalmers, told his players to ‘go through’ the injured McGinley, with the Peebles gaffer expressing his disgust at the incident.

He said; “In all my time in football, that has to be one of the worst things I’ve ever heard on the park.

"Fair enough, Leith were the better team; but to set out to hurt our already injured keeper is disgusting.”

Peebles faced an uphill battle from the off in this one, with the experienced duo of Colin Smith and Ray Fleming unavailable- with defender Jason Newell still out of action following a rib injury.

Indeed, the full extent of the damage was rendered even more surprising after Rovers raced into a fourth minute lead after David Lindsay fired home an early penalty.

Shortly after, Ross Lamb was up next to test the keeper with a powerful low shot from a short Lindsay corner.

The early signs were promising, but, after that, Rovers were second best to a slick passing team in Leith.

Peebles survived two goalmouth scrambles in the opening exchanges, and, despite an Alan McMath effort that just grazed the crossbar, it was Leith who were creating most of the chances.

Bang on the half-hour mark, Leith had a penalty of their own after Ross Lamb was penalised for grappling in the box at a corner, with Black stepping up to coolly slot the ball away.

By that time, McGinley damaged his ankle ligaments after landing awkwardly following a corner, with the big man toughing it out until the 80th minute before Robbie Renwick was forced to take over between the sticks.

Leith added a second just before half-time, pouncing on slack defending to extend their lead, with a third coming soon after in the early stages of the second half- again, the product of poor defending from the home side.

The Edinburgh outfit kept up their ruthless assault, attacking the Rovers on all fronts as they battered them back. Lee Zavaroni was called upon to save the day with a heroic tackle following another swift Leith break-away.

The Lamb brothers, Ross and Gregor, had the best chances to salvage something- with Ross having his side-footed effort vanish just over the bar, whilst Gregor watched his spectacular curling effort whiz past the far post.

Robbie Renwick put in an admirable performance in McGinley’s place, with the forward pulling off a stunning piece of goalkeeping to deny Black when the Leith striker went one-on-one.

However, by that time, Leith had imposed themselves on the game and returned to the capital with all three points.

Peebles: McGinley, Dodds, Rossi, Zavaroni, McMath, Brown, G. Lamb, R. Lamb, Mackay, Lindsay, Schulz-Keith. Subs: Renwick & Cockburn