Peebles Rovers 5

Hillfield Swifts 1

James Smith

at Whitestone Park

ROVERS continued their winning ways on Saturday as they breezed past Inverkeithing Hillfield Swifts to reach the third round of the Football Nation Qualifying Cup.

Cammy Sclater scored his first goal for the club to add to doubles from Grant Wilson and David Lindsay as the home side ran out comfortable 5-1 winners.

As early as the third minute, Rovers showed their intentions as Lindsay played in Sclater but he choose to pass rather than go for goal and the opportunity passed.

The same two players combined shortly after but this time Sclater’s header just cleared the bar. Gregor Lamb was next to try his luck but his dipping 25-yard effort just missed the top corner.

Swifts had their moments early on but although some of their build up play looked dangerous, there was no breaking through Rovers’ back four with Ben Brown cutting out the most dangerous of those forays with a timely sliding clearance.

Peebles' pressure paid off after 13 minutes when once again Lindsay found Sclater and his first time finish left the ‘keeper helpless.

Any hope Swifts had of getting any kind of foothold in the match disappeared when they were reduced to 10 men after just 25 minutes for a second bookable offence.

Gregor Lamb had a headed effort cleared off the line then on the half hour mark robbed a Swifts defender and played in Wilson but he couldn’t quite connect with the low cross. Wilson made no mistake a few minutes later though as he charged down an attempted clearance from the ‘keeper and rolled the ball into the net to double Rovers’ lead.

The lead was halved inside a minute though as a rare Swifts corner caused havoc in the 6 yard box and Andy Griffin squeezed the ball in for the visitors.

Colin Smith's team regained their advantage less than five minutes later when Lindsay again provided the ammunition for Wilson to finish from close range.

The second half continued as the first had ended with Rovers on the front foot and a break from the back by Alan McMath saw him thread the ball to Lindsay who placed his shot into the far corner.

Just before the hour mark, a speculative long-range effort from Swifts bounced off the top of the bar but this was as close as they got to reducing the deficit. McMath was unlucky to see his downward header from a corner well saved after which a bit of a lull set in with Rovers on easy street.

There was still time for a fifth though as Ross Lamb won the ball wide on the left before playing in Lindsay who produced a tidy finish to round off another morale boosting victory.