Whitehill Welfare 1

Selkirk 1

SELKIRK boss Garry O’Connor believes his team’s disappointment at only drawing with Whitehill Welfare is testament to the transformation underway at Yarrow Park.

After watching his side squander a dozen or so chances against the Rosewell side, O’Connor admitted he was still pleased with his team’s performance.

He told the Border Telegraph: “If you go back five or six weeks we would probably have folded and lost that game despite all of the chances.

“It shows how far we’ve come on in that past four or five weeks that we are desperately disappointed not to come away with all three points.

“I can see the by the way we are playing and the shape we have that we are a team that will kick on up that league before the end of the season.”

It was a confident Selkirk who started brightly at Ferguson Park with some clever one-touch football.

And they were almost rewarded after only six minutes when Bayan Fenwick got onto the end of Phil Addison’s deflected cross, but his diving header went straight into the arms of Bryan Young.

You only have to look at the league table to see how vulnerable Selkirk have been at the back this season.

Despite the dynamic Garry Kenneth being drafted into to shore up the leaks, the occasional gaps do still appear.

On 11 minutes former St Johnstone striker Greg Kerr found one of those gaps to cleverly dink the ball over Jamie Newman and into the far corner of the net.

The response was immediate.

Selkirk had two strong penalty claims for handball waved away in the space of a minute as they rifled in crosses to the Welfare box.

Addison danced his way into space on 19 minutes only to volley wildly over.

And just two minutes later the industrious Ross King raced onto a Fenwick through ball only to be denied by a great Young block, and Jamie Butler’s follow-up attempt was deflected past the post.

The home keeper reacted well again to deny King on 29 minutes following fantastic build up between Davie Robertson and Jamie Pyper.

There was still time for Fenwick to test Young again and for Butler to hit the crossbar before half time, but Whitehill somehow carried the lead in with them at the break.

If Selkirk needed a reminder that the home team can also be dangerous it came just three minutes into the second half.

Callum Connolly raced through the channel to curl a shot a foot over the bar from 15 yards out.

But the visitors were soon on the front foot again with King racing onto Fenwick’s through ball only for the former Rangers teenager to shoot tamely into Young’s arms.

On 65 minutes Kenneth headed down Addison’s corner, but Pyper’s powerful volley rattled the underside of the bar and bounced clear.

With Selkirk chasing the game, Welfare began to find more opportunities on the counter attack.

Connelly was denied by the feet of Newman on 69 minutes and, with Kenneth hobbling from a knee injury, Kerr escaped his attentions to shoot inches over.

With just seven minutes remaining Selkirk finally equalised. Addison cut in from the right and, as he drew the centre half, squared for Fenwick to blast beneath Young from the edge of the area.

With both of Selkirk’s centre halves substituted through injury, Whitehill finished the strongest but Newman was never overly stretched.

Selkirk. J Newman, J Pyper, M Christie, G Kenneth (M Samson 72), C McDiarmid (M Collin 84), S Ritchie, R King (J Easton 72), D Robertson, J Butler, B Fenwick & P Addison.