Peebles Rovers 1

Eyemouth United 2

Neil Hobson

at Whitestone Park

A LATE strike from Micky Gillan saw Eyemouth defeat Peebles 2-1 to leave the Tweeddale side’s hopes of finishing in the top-six hanging in the balance.

The Rovers produced a magnificent first-half showing, with Lee Zavaroni and James Runciman tormenting William Stewart in between the sticks early on.

Eyemouth ultimately drew first blood through, an Aidan Lauder tap-in on 37 minutes, before Robbie Renwick pulled it back just before half-time with a low drive.

The visitors improved after the break however and Gillan’s close-range finish, seven minutes from time, ultimately sealed the win for the Fishermen on a miserable afternoon for Rovers manager Ger Rossi.

Indeed, this was a match where so much was at stake.

Following the torturous nightmare that was the previous week’s 3-1 defeat to Tweedmouth Rangers, Rovers knew they had to overcome fellow table climbers Eyemouth if they were to break into the upper echelons of the East of Scotland.

Peebles came flying out of the dressing room with apocalyptic verve, as they looked to take the initiative early on with Saul Schulz-Keith darting away down the left before linking up with Zavaroni.

The captain showed deft footwork to evade his marker before placing a shot that narrowly drifted wide of Stewart’s right-hand post.

Eyemouth were largely lacking in creative spark during this opening spell, but a functional back-four was their ultimate shield against a keen Peebles attack.

This fierce bombardment continued after Ross Lamb pinged a delightful ball to Runciman who had crept in at the back-post. The right-back gleefully met it, but saw his explosive header disarmed with a swift save.

It may have taken a thunderous spate of Peebles attacks, but Eyemouth eventually sharpened up and hit back - swiftly landing them the first goal.

Such renewed attacking steel was encapsulated in the mercurial figure of Micky Gillan, who came to life and set off down the left with murderous intent.

The forward made for the byline, dispatching a lethal cross that flew across the face of goal before crossing paths with the grateful boot of Lauder; who stabbed home to make it 1-0.

The battle-hardened Rovers refused to fold however, and the visitors scarcely had enough time to celebrate before Robbie Renwick dragged them back down to Earth.

The wide man carved through their flank with insulting ease before crashing into the box and powering home a low-drive in the dying embers of the first-half.

Such a life-line raised the stakes, a fact reflected in a second-half showing that degenerated into a hard battle between the two sides.

Saul Schulz-Keith and Lee Zavaroni again tried to forge a new path, but as the war raged in in midfield- chances became scarce for both teams.

But, just 7 minutes from time, heartbreak hit Peebles like a ton of bricks. A long-range effort from Aidan Lauder walloped the crossbar and bounced directly into the stormy sea that was the Peebles box.

After numerous attempts to clear and finish, it was Mickey Gillan who got a foot to the ball and prodded it home to clinch the win.

Peebles’ next match is at home to Leith Athletic tomorrow with a 2:30 kick off.