Derby delight for Tweeddale Rovers

But they had to work harder for this one, falling 2-1 behind before coming back and scoring a late winner through Ruaraidh McNaughton.

Jamie Mackay put the visitors in front early on after charging down a goalkeeper clearance, but Linton rallied. Ross Mcleod had his penalty saved, but Michael Gemmell scored from the rebound before Jonathan Wardman also capitalised on a second ball, this time from a free kick. Hotspur probably had the better of the chances over the piece but a comeback from Tweeddale ensured the points were going back to Peebles. Full back Moray Macleod got his first ever goal for the club with a gravity defying diving header. Time seemed to be running out for either side to nick a win, but McNaughton sneaked one in at the death.

The win keeps Tweeddale’s momentum going as they sit pretty at the top of the table with four wins from four. They will be hoping they can continue that form for longer than they did last term when they capitulated and slipped out of the title race.

For Linton Hotspur, it’s been a disappointing start to the season as they look to improve on last season’s second bottom finish. But they will surely take positives from this. To say they were the better team would be pushing it but they certainly created openings in what was a finely balanced, end to end match. In the end they lost by the slimmest of margins but there was enough to suggest they can pick up points in the weeks to come.

When Mackay charged down Scott Cursiter’s attempted clearance and scored into an empty net, some minds were surely drifting back to the Kerfield fixture when Dale raced into a 4-0 lead, and foreseeing something similar.

But there didn’t seem to be any sort of lift that you might expect to see when a team go in front early doors. Instead it was Hotspur who seemed in the mood.

Despite this though they couldn’t hit the net in the first half. Gemmell had the best of the chances but he lost his footing at a crucial time, when he looked to be in.

The game developed into a real battle, with play raging one from side to the other. It was enthralling stuff and as entertaining as they come.

When the men in blue finally got the breakthrough, they done so with the help of a dubious penalty decision. Wardman went down under the challenge of Marcus Thomson and the ref awarded the spot kick, despite the defender playing the ball. Mcleod’s effort was well saved by Bob Hall, but the taker reacted quickest to the loose ball and squared for Gemmell.

Minutes later they were in front and it was down to being the quickest to react again. Mikey Mcewan’s venomous free kick had movement on it, but Hall was equal to it again. Wardman made it to the rebound before anyone in red and fired past the grounded Hall.

Macleod has given years of service to Tweeddale, but has never made it onto a scoresheet. That all changed when David Lindsay hung a corner in the air and he reacted like a natural. He threw himself at it and powered a header into the bottom corner to the delight and amazement of the travelling support.

Rovers did get a lift this time and were driving forward in search of a winner. Craig Collin was particularly prominent, as he had been all evening.

For all the attacking, it looked like that decisive goal was going to remain elusive. But McNaughton got his first goal of the season to clinch it. It wasn’t exactly done in style. His first touch was heavy, inviting a challenge from Macnab. But the attacking player just got there first and his stabbed effort squeezed its way in at the front post.

Tweeddale: Hall, F.Moffat, R.Moffat, Thomson, Macleod, McNaughton, Rogers, R.Meikle, Collin, Mackay (B.Moffat), Lindsay. Subs not used: Russell, Bertram, Sykes.

Linton Hotspur: S.Cursiter, Blaikie, Clyde, A.Cursiter, Macnab, Macfarlane, Mcleod, Wardman, Jacob Swan (Josiah Swan), Gemmell (Bertram), Mcewan.