Tuesday Sport , 9th August, with Derek Hall’s report from Dalkeith Thistle v Ormiston Primrose game

Dalkeith Thistle 4-1 Ormiston Primrose

A cracking evening and an interesting EOS Division 2 fixture saw Dalkeith Thistle welcoming Ormiston Primrose to Kings Park with both clubs in a confident mood after winning their last two fixtures. Three minutes in, Jack Burrows did well to head an awkward bouncing ball on to Lewis Russell but referee Lewis Hogarth awarded offside against the Thistle striker. Ronan Clelland was next to look for Russell but Guy Kerr was across to cover for the visitors and concede the games first corner. Ross Aitchison took the corner short to Jordan Mackie who dropped the ball back to Aitchison and he delivered a pinpoint cross to the back post where Burrows rose unchallenged to send a thumping six yard header past the helpless Primrose keeper Kieran Beveridge. Darren McTernan dragged a right foot effort well wide as the home side continued to look sharp and then on nine minutes, Aitchison found Duncan Muir and his early ball in found McTernan arriving at the back post only to head wide of the Primrose goals from close range when he probably should have done better. Russell set up Mackie to shoot wide from 15 yards before the visitors finally threatened after twelve minutes as Marc Scott sent Ben Tracey to the goal line but he just couldn’t find the required cross. On the quarter hour, Mackie tried an effort for Thistle from distance which didn’t miss by much and at the other end, Kacper Korpalski played a nice wide ball to Zac Scally and his deep cross was headed clear by Clelland. After 17 minutes, a short passback saw Kyle Brockie in on the angle but Primrose keeper Beveridge stayed big and made a brilliant block before then grabbing the loose ball and he was in action again a minute later as he comfortably took a header from Michael Lennie. Scally saw a shot cleared by Thistle captain Greig Callaghan on the edge of the box before Mackie drove over the top as Thistle broke to the other end. With 20 minutes gone, Scally set up Ben Tracey and his drive from 20 yards saw Dalkeith keeper Aaron Jones make his first save. Ormiston looked to have steadied the ship and forced a couple of corners as they tried to get back into the game although Russell then sent McTernan to the goal line for the home side but keeper Beveridge had his angles spot on as he cut the cross out at his near post. However, Thistle doubled their advantage after 27 minutes when a clearance saw a foot race between Thistle’s Russell and Tracey of Primrose and as the ball bounced up, the Ormiston man handled the ball which resulted in a free kick and a yellow card for Tracey from referee Hogarth. Clelland stepped up and sent a beautiful curling left foot free kick up and over the wall from around 28 yards high into the top corner for a stunning strike which didn’t give keeper Beveridge a sniff. Shortly afterwards, Korpalski of Ormiston went down near the halfway line but after treatment, he was able to continue. Russell then outpaced Primrose skipper Adam Dougan and forced keeper Beveridge into another block before Brockie fired over the top and the home side had a firm grip on proceedings at that moment. Matt Underhill did well after 39 minutes to take the ball down on the edge of the Thistle box before quickly turning inside but he had nobody to lay the ball off to and was crowded out. However with five minutes to go in the half, a cross into the Primrose penalty area wasn’t dealt with and the ball found it’s way to Burrows who calmly slipped the ball past Beveridge along the ground from around ten yards and Thistle were now three goals to the good. Scott found Underhill again as the visitors tried to respond but Lennie was able to nick the ball off his toe before in stoppage time, a slack clearance from Ormiston keeper Beveridge went straight to Muir but his return drive from 20 yards saw the keeper make amends as he dived low to his right to make the stop. A comfortable lead at the break for a home side who had produced a dominant first 45, and for the visitors, a few problems to solve over the half time oranges.
Within a minute of the restart, the game could have been done and dusted as McTernan found Aitchison who played a one two with Muir before clipping over a lovely near post cross and Russell headed past the post from inside the six yard box when a goal looked certain. However, the unpredictability of football saw Primrose right back in the game on 48 minutes as a ball into the Thistle box saw Tracey with an excellent hooked effort which beat keeper Jones only to come back off the bar, but when the ball dropped to Scally, he was bundled to the ground and referee Hogarth immediately pointed to the spot. Hogg stepped up and made an immaculate job of the penalty as he stroked the ball into the bottom corner and sent keeper Jones the wrong way for good measure. A minute later, Tracey went down rather easily near the touchline after a challenge from Aitchison and the Primrose striker received a quiet word in the passing from the referee. The temperature of the match had certainly increased now and Burrows of Thistle and Primrose’s Ballard were brought in by referee Hogarth and left in no doubt to cut out the off the ball nonsense. On 53 minutes, Clelland tried his luck as he took a bouncing ball on the half volley from around 28 yards and Primrose keeper Beveridge made a superb save down low to his right as the ball bounced right in front of him making the stop far more difficult and he then recovered to get to the loose ball at the feet of Russell. Aitchison then delivered a free kick into the Ormiston box which was cleared out to Muir and his layoff to McTernan saw the Dalkeith no6 lie back on his shot and fire well over. On the hour, Russell tried to find Burrows but Dougan was composed as he shepherded the ball back to keeper Beveridge and then Clelland picked out Burrows who again fired over the visitors crossbar. However with 63 minutes on the clock, the home side restored their three goal advantage with a lovely team goal begun on the halfway line by Mackie who found Brockie and he moved the ball onto Clelland and then Russell to play in Brockie who had continued his run and from the angle, he clipped the ball into the far corner from about eight yards to finish off a move of real quality. A minute later, referee Hogarth was over to have a word with Ormiston manager Richie Weir and a warning looked to be enough but the referee then heard a further comment and a yellow card was the outcome. Before the game restarted, Ormiston went to their bench with Dan Nichol and Scally being replaced by Dylan Hamilton and Daryl Russell. A minute later, some confusion in the Dalkeith defence saw Korpalski onto a loose ball inside the Thistle penalty area and he toe poked the ball past keeper Jones and wide for a goal kick. The Ormiston no5 was convinced the keeper had got a touch but took his protests too far and the somewhat predictable outcome was a caution for dissent. With 67 minutes gone, the home side made their first change as Dylan Greig replaced Brockie. Three minutes later, Tracey worked hard to make space to get a right foot 20 yard rising drive away for the visitors but in doing so, he looked to injure himself and after treatment, he was replaced by Richard Fairlie. At the same stoppage, Dalkeith made a double switch with Muir and Russell leaving the field for Jack Morgan and Josh Davidson. Scott and Fairlie combined well down the right for Ormiston but were eventually defeated by force of numbers before on 80 minutes, a cross into the Primrose box saw Davidson unselfishly lay the ball back for Burrows but from nine yards he snatched at the ball and it spun off the outside of his boot without troubling keeper Beveridge. Two minutes later, Mackie sidestepped his man in midfield and hammered in a 30 yard right foot drive which was only a coat of paint over the top of the Ormiston crossbar. Seven minutes from time, the East Lothian side had to make another enforced change as Korpalski went down in midfield and limped off before being replaced by Euan Clark. Burrows worked hard to retain possession for Dalkeith out wide to win a corner and another inadvisable comment from Primrose’s Hamilton brought another completely needless yellow card before the set piece saw keeper Beveridge once again make another outstanding save low down to his right from Lennie’s header. Davidson then got down the left flank for Thistle but cool defending from Ballard saw the Primrose no2 bring the ball away for the visitors. Dalkeith made their final substitution in the final minute as Cameron Miller replaced two goal Burrows. A minute into stoppage time, Morgan and Aitchison combined before the former cut the ball back for Greig who fired over, but the final whistle brought about a fairly comfortable victory for a home side who had done their best work in an excellent first half. An Ormiston side who had looked so good in creating a bundle of chances last week against Hawick weren’t given the same chances to threaten this time around and their misery on the night was completed as coach Ross McLaren was also shown a yellow card from referee Hogarth as the teams left the field.