Camelon Juniors 1 Kelty Hearts 3

KELTY Hearts are in pole position to secure a top-two finish in the Super League after earning revenge over Camelon on Saturday.

Thomas Courts’ side returned to the scene of their fifth round Junior Cup defeat in February but this time emerged from Carmuirs Park with a fine 3-1 win.

After Bonnyrigg Rose thumped Carnoustie 5-0, a 3-0 win for the league leaders against Camelon on Wednesday saw them take Kelty’s crown but the Central Park outfit still have plenty to play for.

As well as aiming to finish second and better their points tally from last season, Hearts also have the prospect of a Fife and Lothians Cup semi-final against Penicuik Athletic on the horizon as they look to end the campaign with a trophy.

This was their third successive league victory but they had to do it the hard way after Camelon got their noses in front in the 26th minute.

The ever-reliable Stuart Cargill equalised for Kelty five minutes before half-time and, with victory required to keep the title race alive, the match seemed destined to be heading for a draw with three minutes to go.

That would have been enough for Bonnyrigg to pop open the champagne but the Midlothian team’s title party was delayed when Archie Campbell fired home to put Kelty in front before he added his second in stoppage time to earn Courts a seventh victory on the road this season.

Second-placed Bo’ness United completed their fixtures with a 1-0 home loss to Broughty Athletic, a point ahead of Kelty, who have four games to play. Fourth-placed Linlithgow Rose, who are a point further back but have played a game more, can still catch Hearts but three wins will guarantee Kelty the runners-up slot.

Arniston Rangers 3 Oakley United 0

CRAIG Cowan insists his Oakley United side showed they can secure Premier League survival despite losing 3-0 at Arniston Rangers.

Two late goals gave the promotion-chasing hosts a more convincing victory than had previously been on the cards as the West Fifers battled gamely for much of the 90 minutes.

After overseeing two draws since taking over from James Watt, Cowan is still awaiting his first win as manager but he was heartened by his team’s performance despite the final result.

Danny McFadden opened the scoring for Arniston, who also missed two penalties, on the half-hour mark after Oakley had begun the match brightly.

The West Fifers were firmly in the game in the second half but a failure to convert in front of goal came back to haunt them when McFadden and then Kyle Doig added two more in the final 10 minutes as United poured forward in search of an equaliser.

The result keeps Oakley second-bottom of the table ahead of Saturday’s trip to Dundee Violet with just three games to go but Cowan is confident that they can achieve a seven-point target he believes will be good enough to keep them up.

He said: “Three-nil flattered them. We were one down with 10 minutes to go and then we were pushing forward; I went to three at the back and put another man up front. I’m not saying that we deserved to win but we played well.

“For 25 minutes in the first half, we were in control and then we lost a silly goal. For the first half an hour of the second half, we were dominant and, in my view, should’ve had two penalties for handball.

“We just couldn’t find the goal and we had one cleared off the line and their goalkeeper made a save that he didn’t know anything about. That would’ve changed the game but when you’re at the bottom nothing seems to go for you.

“We were right in the game until the second goal, which killed the game. I was disappointed with the result but I was happy with the performance; we kept the ball well but we need to create a wee bit more. We need to trust ourselves to put the ball in and be a wee bit more clinical.”

On his team’s survival chances, he added: “We’ve got three games left but our situation doesn’t really change.

“We need to get two wins and try to get something out of the other game; if we win at the weekend we’re level on points with Armadale, with a game in hand, and will be above Edinburgh United. We still have the same objective and we’re still right in there. I believe in them.”

Pumpherston Juniors 1 Rosyth 2

ROSYTH’S quest to end their South Division campaign on a high continued on Saturday with a second win over Pumpherston in the space of a week.

Lee Richardson’s men completed their home fixtures last time out with a 3-1 win over the West Lothian side at Recreation Park in a game that saw Pumpherston finish with just nine men.

There was to be no such niggle in this encounter and Rosyth’s target of finishing in sixth place by winning their remaining matches remains on course despite a spirited showing from the hosts.

Top scorer Tam Hampson was on the mark for an incredible 37th time this season 10 minutes before half-time to give Rosyth the lead but the hosts bounced back quickly and pulled level just five minutes later.

A determined visiting side kept pressing and were rewarded on the hour mark when Dean Ogg netted what turned out to be the winner to stretch Rosyth’s unbeaten run to three matches.

They travel to face sixth-placed Lochgelly Albert this weekend and a victory at Gardner’s Park, and in their final two games, will be good enough for a minimum of sixth position but they could even end the season as high as fifth if Easthouses Lily fail to win either of their remaining two fixtures.

Saturday’s fixtures (kick-offs 2.30pm): McBookie.com Super League – Tayport v Kelty Hearts. McBookie.com Premier League – Dundee Violet v Oakley United. McBookie.com South Division – Lochgelly Albert v Rosyth.