Derek Hall’s report from a football Match on Saturday 28th September 2019

Musselburgh Athletic 6-2 Linlithgow Rose
A beautiful day and a spectacular match at Olivebank as Athletic welcomed Linlithgow Rose and before kick off, the home side suffered a blow when, already denied the presence of the influential Mathu King, they were rocked when captain John McManus pulled up in the warm up and had to drop out of the squad. In the first minute Evans was almost in for Mussy and when the ball was only half cleared, Myles twenty yarder went over the top. O’Kane then dropped a cross in for Downie but his control let him down and shortly after Myles found Evans whose shot was saved by McKinven as the home side continued to set the early pace. A free kick to Rose in the sixth minute saw Ronald pick out Barbour at the back post but he hooked the ball over as the away side finally made some forward progress. However in the twelfth minute, Musselburgh went ahead when Evans outmuscled Scullion to drive into the box before thumping the ball past McKinven at his near post for a deserved lead. After 16 minutes, Scullion tried to atone with a speculative drive from 30 yards which went wide before Coyne then showed lovely control on the edge of the Musselburgh box before his drive was blocked by Williams. Rose were back into things now and a long clearance from keeper McKinven put Allum in but his drive was blocked by the foot of home keeper Grant. However in the 19th minute, the home side doubled their advantage when Evans and Downie combined on the edge of the penalty area and when Downie’s cross was only half cleared, McBay was on hand to turn the ball home from about eight yards. In 23 minutes, Martin of Musselburgh was warned after conceding a foul outside the penalty area and when Ronald’s original set piece was blocked and came back to him, his header back into the box found Allum, whose drive on the turn fizzed across the six yard area but didn’t get a touch. Coyne was denied again by the presence of Williams and then on 32 minutes, Coyne was very unlucky when he showed great feet to get into the box before smacking an excellent drive off the base of the Musselburgh post with the diving Grant well beaten.
Rose were once again pressing and a cross from McKinlay to the back post picked out Thom but his header only found the side netting. After 37 minutes, Evans worked hard to win a corner for the home side and when O’Kanes kick was swung in, McKinven pulled off a wonder save in tipping the ball over the bar from a close range header as Evans and Downie rose together along with a defender, but whoever got the touch could only marvel at brilliant work from the keeper. O’Kane then had a go himself from about 20 yards as the game continued to be played like a Cup tie and then Evans scampered down the left flank before his cross just failed to pick out Downie as once again the home side pressed to put the game out of reach. However just before half time, Rose threw themselves a life line when an Allum effort was blocked by Williams but when the ball was returned into the penalty area, Allum was there to control it and then get a shot away on the turn from about eight yards which somehow managed to squeeze its way past keeper Grant at his near post and get Rose onto the score sheet. Halftime arrived as soon as the game was restarted and despite still being ahead, the home side would be disappointed to concede right on the break and give the visitors a much needed boost for the second period.
Three minutes into the second half, a lovely ball was clipped through to Evans who found himself one on one with keeper McKinven and as they came together, Evans slipped the ball home off the post for the home sides third. McKinven was injured whilst trying to save and after lengthy treatment, substitute keeper Wilson came on for the visitors. On 53 minutes, Evans went down on the edge of the Rose penalty area after a challenge with Myles but nothing was given and whilst being treated, his complaints to referee Lee were sufficient to earn him a fairly needless caution. In 56 minutes, Ronald found Smith down the Rose right flank and his cross was only just too high for Coyne and a minute later, Rose replaced Smith with Slaven. A minute later, the busy Evans got to the bye line and only a last ditch challenge prevented his cut back finding McBay. The game was quickly at the other end and Barbour found Allum whose shot was again blocked by Williams who was having an excellent game at the back for the home side. Evans had the ball in the net again for the home side on the hour but he was correctly flagged offside but a minute later it was 4-1 when Evans picked out Downie on the edge of the box and he stroked the ball home first time with his left foot with Wilson beaten low down to his right. Rose came right back and Gray worked his way to the goal line but when Allum controlled the pull back and shot home, he was penalised for handling the ball prior to his shot. However on 64 minutes, this exciting game produced another twist as Ronald knocked home a pass from the excellent Allum and once again, it was game on. Two minutes later, an outrageous dummy from Evans on the left wing released himself to race to the goal line but his cross was disappointing and was easily blocked.
However on 68 minutes, it looked to be game over when Downie picked up a loose ball about 35 yards out before side stepping a defender and then moving forward to slot home off the post from outside the penalty area with a shot which seemed to deceive keeper Wilson although he may have been partially unsighted. A minute later Barbour of Linlithgow was cautioned for bringing down Evans before on 70 minutes a ball to Evans on the edge of the Rose penalty area found him completely on his own as the defence claimed in vain for offside but the ball seemed to get trapped under his feet allowing Wilson time to sprint from his line and make the save. On 74 minutes another needless caution, this time for McKinlay of the Rose who punched the ball away after a throw in had been awarded against his side, pretty bonkers ! A minute later, Rose should have got one back as Ronald swung in another pin point cross from a right wing free kick but Thom completely missed his contact from a header all alone just six yards out. Twelve minutes from time, Ronald whipped in another free kick from wide left just outside the Musselburgh box and Grant had to be alert to tip the ball over for another corner. From the corner, the ball ended up once again in the home net, but there were no complaints as referee Lee indicated a pulling offence before the ball entered the goals. On 79 minutes, a Downie drive deflected onto the heels of Evans and Wilson was quickly out to push the ball away before then recovering to make a second block from McBay. Myles of Musselburgh then became the games fourth caution for a foul on McKinlay just in front of the dugouts.
After 81 minutes, Allum showed great strength in the Musselburgh box to retain possession under pressure before getting off an excellent drive which Grant turned round the post low down to his left and from the corner, Slaven’s shot was well over but just seconds later a Coyne shot was blocked and this time Slaven’s drive from about 23 yards shaved the post with Grant beaten. Three minutes from time Evans drove strongly forwards towards the edge of the Rose box before being somewhat crudely body checked by Thom who was rightly cautioned by referee Lee. The free kick was awarded about 27 yards out and was struck perfectly right footed up and over the defensive wall and into the top corner by O’Kane with keeper Wilson rooted to the spot and the Musselburgh players celebrated the goal with understandable vigour. A minute from time, Musselburgh manager Kevin McDonald rightly substituted Nathan Evans so he could take the applause of the crowd for a fantastic display, at times he had been almost unplayable and fully deserved the ovation he got on leaving the field. As the final whistle went, we were left to reflect on an amazing game and undoubtedly the result of the day with a performance by a supposedly understrength home side which defied the odds and in Nathan Evans they had a match winner, ably assisted by great performances throughout their side. Despite an excellent performance up front from Ross Allum, this will quite simply be a day that Rose will want to put behind them as quickly as possible and sort out a defence which on the day was pretty much tortured by the rampant Musselburgh forward line.