Peebles Rovers 0

Lothian Thistle 9

Neil Hobson

at Whitestone Park

PEEBLES Rovers suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Lothian Thistle, as the capital club chase Kelty for the league title.

Everyone knows of the stunning levels of firepower at the Saughton side’s disposal, but this was a trouncing that left Rovers seriously browbeat.

Despite for all the talk of the financial gap between the two sides, this will be regarded by Ger Rossi as an unacceptable performance by his side.

With just four minutes on the clock, Louis Swanson glided effortlessly through the Peebles defence to register the first goal – hitting a clean cross from Keith Murray past Ben McGinley from short-range.

What followed was a 15 minute goal blitz as Lothian stretched their superiority in emphatic fashion.

Willis Hare was on hand to grab two more goals, both short-range efforts as Thistle quickly shifted into top gear.

Shell-shocked Peebles barely had a moment to think between the goals, the game was caving in fast for them.

Rovers, finally snapping out of their trance, started to retaliate through Gregor and Ross Lamb who battled ferociously to move the ball up the park.

Things soon went from bad to worse as Peebles lost James Dodds to injury after 14 minutes, the defender taking a heavy blow to the face that forced him off – Robert Sterricks replacing him.

A good cross-field ball picked out David Lindsay who charged down the left, but under-pressure from LTHV defender, he had little chance of breaking through.

Rovers kept pushing away, but this was a day where nothing was happening. Jack Smith cut in from the left to see his shot go over the bar, whilst Ross Lamb saw a powerful effort from outside the box saved by Kevin Swain.

You never felt that Lothian were going to rest on their laurels, never going to be happy with just a 0-3 lead.

Ben McGinley produced a stunning save to deny Keith Murray in a one-v-one on 47 minutes.

However, soon after, Lothian won a penalty – with Louis Swanson on hand to tuck it under McGinley.

Minutes later, Murray was at it again as he broke clear of the Rovers defence with Lee Zavaroni chasing after him.

The skipper almost cleared it, but cruelly saw the ball take a deflection and go beyond McGinley to make it 0-5.

Murray was also on hand to grab number six, as he headed home in a packed area following a Tony Muir free-kick.

Murray was to score again, followed by two from sub Samuel Nhamburo, to secure the points for Raymond Carr’s men.

Peebles: Mcginley, Mackay, Brown, C Smith, Dodds, R Lamb, G Lamb, Lindsay, J Smith, McMath & Zavaroni. Subs: Rossi, Renwick, Sterricks, Forrest, Newell