Peebles Rovers 0

Lothian Thistle 1

Neil Hobson at Whitestone Park

PEEBLES Rovers were denied a draw in the cruellest of fashions as Lothian Thistle bagged a 90th minute winner to claim victory in a Football Nation Qualifying Cup tie at Whitestone Park on Tuesday.

Thistle came to Peebles boasting an impressive record of having scored 19 goals and conceding nothing in their opening three games.

The Peebles cause wasn’t aided with several first-team players unavailable for selection: Scott Inglis, Ben Brown and James Runciman all unavailable with Alan McMath still struggling with injury.

As expected, a ruthless Lothian came racing out the traps eager to land an early punch against a relatively inexperienced Rovers team.

They were met with stiff resistance however, with full-backs Jamie Mackay and Lee Zavaroni effectively policing the right and left flanks respectively to largely restrict any aerial assaults.

The class in the capital club was evident, as they enjoyed long spells on the ball, but a noticeable inability to break down a defiant Peebles defence largely proved to be their undoing in the first half.

The best chance for the visitors came on 22 minutes with Hutchy wide man O’Donnell showing some nifty footwork to bypass his marker and drill a clean shot at McGinley from outside the box. His shot, whilst struck well, was lacking in power making it a routine save for the Peebles keeper.

Rovers slowly built their confidence and began to move up the park, but with possession scarce, they picked their attacks carefully.

Michael Cockburn came closest to beating Swain between the sticks, after the ball bounced free from a packed goalmouth following a Lindsay corner to find the unmarked winger standing several yards outside the box; he took one touch to control before blasting a straight ball at the keeper, which forced Swain to tip it over the bar.

Saul Schulz-Keith was unable to receive any service without a partner to aid him up top, and his lack of luck was compounded as he tweaked his hamstring before half-time, with Chris Robertson taking his place from the bench.

Peebles’ player-manager Ger Rossi switched it up for the second half, with David Lindsay moving from an attacking midfield role to partnering Robertson up front.

It was switch that immediately paid dividend, with Lindsay getting in a promising position after a superb Mackay ball. He played in Donovan Ndiweni, whose driven ball flashed wide across the face of goal.

Thistle, by no means, were backing down, but chances still weren’t clear cut as a proactive back-line kept their shape and defended heroically with Colin Smith providing extra security in a sweeper role.

Peebles fought tooth and nail to keep the scoresheet blank and it was looking that way, especially after a string of impressive saves from Ben McGinley and an outstanding goal-line clearance from skipper Zavaroni on 80 minutes.

But, their dreams were shattered on 90 minutes as a long, surging run from midfielder Mackenzie carved a weary defence open to stab the ball into the bottom right corner.

To add insult to injury, forward David Lindsay was handed his marching orders from the referee after protesting about the goal, prompting a straight red and will now miss their next game against Burntisland on Saturday.

Peebles boss Ger Rossi said: “A late winner, especially after the team worked so hard, is tough to take, but we said to the boys in the dressing room that there are so many positives to take from tonight.”

Peebles: McGinley, Mackay, Dodds, Newell, Zavaroni, Cockburn, Rossi, Smith, Ndiweni, Lindsay, Schulz-Keith. Subs: Robertson, Marshall