Peebles Rovers 5
Eyemouth United 1
Neil Hobson
at Whitestone Park
IT may have been a day where off-the field news took centre-stage, but Rovers’ kept their top-six dreams alive with a thumping win over Eyemouth.
Should Rovers defeat their final two opponents in the next two weeks, Burntisland and Tynecastle, overtaking Heriot-Watt remains a possibility.
It would be a fitting send-off for Rovers boss Ger Rossi, who announced his intention to depart at the end of the season after the match.
When this Rovers team attacks, it attacks – as a shell-shocked Eyemouth discovered.
That’ll be the main point that spectators left Whitestone thinking after Rovers put on a five-star star showing.
Awful tabloid headlines aside, this was a day where things really clicked for Rossi’s Rovers.
After just a few minutes of play – Rovers raced into the lead courtesy of yet another Alan McMath strike.
The advancing Jack Smith whipped in a great ball, McMath taking a touch to compose himself before coolly slotting the ball home.
Lee Zavaroni was up next to try his luck, cracking the woodwork with a powerful strike on seven minutes.
The Seasiders very nearly left Rovers feeling sea-sick, after John Crawford pounced on slack defending to tuck away an equaliser moments later.
There were occasional moments where it looked like the game could degrade into a tight battle – Eyemouth proving to be tough opponents.
But McMath was the hero again just before half-time, breaking the deadlock with a thumping header from a corner.
The second-half saw the former Leithen Rovers ace complete his hat-trick: bundling the ball over the line on 53 minutes to send Whitestone wild.
Substitute David Lindsay came off the bench soon after, making a near immediate impact.
A foul on McMath in the box saw a penalty awarded to the Rovers, Lindsay stepping up to smash the ball home.
And then, in what proved to be the final kick of the game – Lindsay grabbed goal number four.
Off the back of a tidy McEwan pass – Davie went one-on-one, and came out on top to round off the day in style.
Peebles: McGinley, Dodds, C Smith, J Smith, Zavaroni, McMath, Brown, G Lamb, R Lamb, McEwan, McDermott
Subs: Forrest, Renwick, Sterricks, Ndiweni, Lindsay, Schulz-Keith
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