Peebles Rovers 0

Lothian Thistle 2

Neil Hobson at Whitestone Park

THEY say life gives with one hand and takes with the other; in this case, life took with both hands and promptly sucker punched Peebles in the stomach afterwards.

It was Lothian that went home with all three points in this Monday night clash, with Peebles losing not just the points, but number one ‘keeper Darren Walker as well.

Peebles went into this game looking to strengthen their chances of getting into the top six and also to make amends for a disappointing 4-1 defeat away to Hawick last time out.

But their cause wasn’t helped with half of the Peebles team battling illness, and most of them dragging themselves off their sickbeds to play.

The game started with early Thistle pressure, often utilising long balls in an effort to break down the Peebles defence.

But stalwart centre-half, Dale Richardson, was able to employ his aerial ability to repel the Saughton side.

Rovers swiftly retaliated with wide man Stephen Anderson deftly cutting through the heart of the Lothian Thistle midfield to fire an effort from just outside the box.

But disaster struck in the eighth minute after Sean Conaghan clashed with Hutchy forward, Darren Smith, in the box.

The referee showed no hesitation in pointing for a penalty and neither did Smith from 12 yards, sending Walker the wrong way to hand them an advantage they would not surrender.

Peebles battled to get back in, but striker Paul Murray couldn’t expose any cracks in Lothian's back line.

The situation went from bad to worse for the Rovers with Darren Walker injuring himself after taking a goal kick. He carried on for a while but was eventually forced to signal to the dug-out that something wasn’t right. Fortunately, no change was required and he carried on through the pain.

Peebles themselves resorted to playing long, but this tactic proved to be ineffective due to the presence of a strong wind and Paul Murray proving to be a somewhat ineffective target man.

The second half was better for the Rovers as they solidified the midfield. Danny Rennie showed his qualities as a number 10 by feeding Murray with a beautiful pass to allow him to force the visiting‘keeper into action.

Brendan Edwards also stepped up to the plate, putting in a great shift as he battled for the ball in midfield. But, if anyone deserves the plaudits it has to be Walker. Despite carrying an injury, he pulled of a daring double save in the 52nd minute to keep Thistle at bay, first by getting down low to stop a Crawford effort before springing up to claw away the rebound.

However, Walker’s heroics were not enough to thwart the visitors and they soon added another name to the scoresheet. A momentary lapse in concentration from the defensive pairing of Richardson and Conaghan allowed Sean Wringe to rush inside, steal the ball and coolly slot it home on 56 minutes. Any hope of scoring for Peebles soon evaporated afterwards after a Danny McAleavy free kick sailed way over the bar.

In truth, Peebles lacked the cutting edge to get to Hutchy but with the team suffering from illness you can’t really fault them.

Speaking after the game, Peebles boss John O’Hara said: “I thought the boys gave everything today, we pretty much pulled them out of their beds for the game. It was two mistakes that cost us the goals, I’m a wee bit disappointed as I felt they were avoidable.

"Darren picked up an injury against Hawick last Saturday, we thought it was medial damage to his ankle but he talked himself into playing tonight. I think that’s Darren done for the season now. It’s a massive loss,

"He’s shown that he’s worth 15 points a season and he’s a cup winner, he’ll be a huge miss”.

Peebles: D. Walker, L. Zavaroni, D. Richardson, S. Conaghan, D. McAleavy, S. Anderson, B. Edwards, R. Harris, D. Rennie, J. Darling, P. Murray