Bonnyrigg Rose 0 Kelty Hearts 1 THOMAS COURTS says his players are “thoroughly enjoying” being in the envious position of the league summit as they took another huge step towards Super League glory.

A 17th-minute own goal from Dean Whitson was enough to earn Kelty a vital victory at two-time Super League champions Bonnyrigg Rose on Saturday that keeps them in pole position to land their maiden success.

With three matches to go against Lochee, Camelon and Bo’ness United, maximum points would see Kelty finish with 70 points and if third-placed Newtongrange – the only team who could match that points total – also secure wins from their final eight games, only a huge swing in goal difference would deny Hearts the flag.

Courts felt that his team should have won this match in more comfortable fashion after dominating for large spells but he told Press Sport, “When you look at the last three games – against Musselburgh, Hill of Beath and Bonnyrigg – to take nine points from them is a major achievement so all credit to the players, especially as they had to come from behind in two of them. Although they had a couple of set pieces in the last four or five minutes when they were pushing, I felt like we were in total control and that we were worthy of the three points.

“The chasing competition probably looked at Saturday and thought it might be a banana skin for us but we are in a position that they’d love to be in just now. There will be a few twists and turns to come and although we have three massive games left which will all be tough, we are in pole position.” Kelty will enjoy a break from the league as they travel to Camelon in the third round of the Fife and Lothians Cup this weekend and Courts added, “They are always tough opponents but we would like to mount a challenge in this competition. We are in the fortunate position that we can almost take a step back from the league and from where we were this time last year, it’s a massive turnaround. We’re thoroughly enjoying it.” Blackburn United 1 Rosyth 2 ROSYTH boss Lee Richardson believes that their South Division promotion dream is still on after they kept their bid on track at Blackburn United.

A Tam Hampson double secured a hard-fought victory in West Lothian that boosts their chances of finishing second to champions Haddington Athletic after rivals Whitburn and Falkirk drew 1-1.

With two games to go, Rosyth are third in the table and two points behind Whitburn, who have completed their fixtures, but are five clear of Falkirk who have four matches still to play.

A trip to Lochgelly Albert and a home game against Dunbar United remain for Richardson’s team and he told Press Sport, “If Falkirk can win all of their games and we win ours, they’ll beat us by one point but you never know what can happen.

“We’ve got a tough game this week against Lochgelly and it’s one I was always worried about because they’ll treat it like a derby and I’m good pals with their manager, so they’ll want to beat us. But they still have to go to Falkirk as well so hopefully they can do us a favour there.

“If we can win on Saturday then it guarantees us at least third place so I’ll have a great basis to take things on next season but dreams can still happen. Whatever happens though, we’ve had a terrific season.” Richardson conceded that his team weren’t at their best on what he described as a “firey” pitch but praised their character for grinding out what could be a vital three points.

They took the lead after 26 minutes when Kevin Goodwin was adjudged by the referee to have been brought down inside the box and Hampson made no mistake from the spot, before goalkeeper Kyle Marley was on hand to produce an excellent save from a home penalty after Lewis Hamill was harshly penalised for a strong shoulder challenge.

Liam Allison equalised with a free kick after 63 minutes that Marley could have dealt with better but with five minutes remaining, Hampson latched on to a long ball and nodded the ball beyond the goalkeeper just before he was taken out of play.

That proved to be the winner and Richardson added, “We never played very well but in the end I was really happy with the result, especially as we went there last season and lost 7-1. We were screaming for a penalty when Tam nodded it in and got clattered but we were never able to really get our passing going on that pitch. They were stuffy but the win was the important thing.” Crossgates Primrose 1 Pumpherston Juniors 3 CROSSGATES boss David McNeely admitted he can’t wait for the season to end with his side certain to finish bottom of the South Division.

A 3-1 home loss to Pumpherston means that the Humbug Park side are eight points adrift of their second-bottom opponents with just one game left after a nightmare season that has resulted in only one league win and seven points.

Jack McGuigan handed the visitors a first-half lead and although Kevin Brown levelled after half-time, two further strikes from Darren Downie and Darryll Butler consigned Primrose to a 20th defeat in 25 matches.

A deflated McNeely said, “I’ll be glad when the season is over to be honest with you. It’s been the worst of my career although I don’t think that we’ve had the breaks this year, which is what happens when you’re at the bottom of the table. When it’s finished I’ll have a couple of weeks’ break and look to go again next year.

“It was the story of our season – sometimes we play too much football and don’t punish teams and two long balls beat us. Our league position doesn’t lie but we’re at the bottom of the pecking order when it comes to players because we can’t offer them money.

“I’d love for someone to hand us £100,000 for players but it’s not going to happen, so we’ll try to keep the best we’ve got, get a few in and see where we are going into next season.” Saturday’s fixtures (kick-offs 2.30pm): DFT Fife and Lothians Cup third round – Camelon Juniors v Kelty Hearts. McBookie.com Premier League – Jeanfield Swifts v Oakley United. McBookie.com South Division – Lochgelly Albert v Rosyth.