Peebles Rovers 2

Lothian Thistle 5

Neil Hobson at Whitestone Park

JUST when Peebles were soaring high on cloud nine following a mesmerising win against Ormiston the previous week, along came Lothian Thistle to drag the Rovers kicking and screaming back to grim reality.

A 5-2 score-line in favour of the capital club, with a dominant second-half performance, saw Raymond Carr’s men return back up the road with the three points.

Meanwhile, on the home front, Gerry Rossi appears to have found himself in a nightmarish Groundhog Day scenario; with some truly spectacular football being played by his team in the first half, only to see their hard work undone in the second 45.

It’s a depressing rain cloud that doesn’t appear to be going anywhere any time soon, and with tough tests against Stirling Uni and league champions, Leith Athletic, round the corner, Rossi and his team will be hoping to end this lean spell soon.

Score-lines only tell half the story, and the Rovers rightly deserve praise for what was a strong first-half. The Whitestone side kicked-off at a whirlwind speed, with some aggressive football forcing Lothian on the back-foot early on.

With just six minutes gone, Lee Zavaroni scarpered down the right-flank courtesy of a Runciman ball. He dashed for the by-line looking to swing in a ball for the advancing Gerry Rossi, the final product didn’t quite happen with the ball narrowly missing the head of Rossi- but Rovers were making their intentions clear.

Lothian were under pressure for large spells of the first half, but some cracking link-up play between James Guy and Willis Hare saw the duo smack the post twice, but some clever policing from Robertson saw their dynamic duo largely restricted in an attacking sense.

But, careful probing saw Lothian land the first blow after a mix-up in defence saw the ball roll freely into the feet of Hare who showed great composure to blast the ball past Simmonds.

With half-time creeping ever closer, Peebles acted quickly to get back into contention. The ball fell to Schulz-Keith, who brought the Rovers’ attack to life. The wide-man ripped his marker to shreds with a double-nutmeg before playing in Rossi with a sublime ball.

The Rovers boss darted away, and hit the ball just outside the box only to see his shot blocked by Paul Crawford. It didn’t faze Rossi though, as he collected the ball for a second time before lashing a beautiful effort into the top-left corner to send Whitestone wild.

The second-half curse quickly kicked in however, and Lothian raced into the lead on 47 minutes, after Sean Wringe carved the centre-halves open before tucking the ball home.

The game had become a tight battle between two sides who looked for a while like they didn't have sufficient creativity to score again. They did.

David Lindsay won and converted a penalty to hand Peebles a chance of salvaging a result from the jaws of defeat.

But, two quick goals quickly put such dreams to bed, with Luis Henriques thumping in a header at the far post following a corner and Anthony Muir smashing home a high-class volley to hand the Edinburgh team a comfortable lead.

Peebles had a penalty shout on 81 minutes after sub Alan McMath was hacked down by Crawford after being put through on goal by Michael Cockburn.

Referee Marshall gave nothing but a firm shake of the head, and a miserable day for the Whitestone men was rounded off after Scott Mackenzie stabbed the ball low past Simmonds on 90 minutes following a swift break-away.

A disappointed Rossi said: “Looking at the game it was probably one of our best performances, I felt we matched them all over the park and made them look quite average at times considering they’re one of the top teams in the league.

“I think it was a touch of inexperience that undid us, we didn’t defend well. But we go again next Saturday against Stirling.”

Peebles: Simmonds, Runciman, Brown, Robertson, Cockburn, Zavaroni, Smith, Rossi, Schulz-Keith, Lindsay, Inglis Subs: McMath, Dodds, Ndiweni, Mackay