Lochgelly Albert 2 Rosyth 3 ROSYTH boss Lee Richardson admitted he was relieved to secure a vital three points after his side almost blew a three-goal lead on Saturday.

A Tam Hampson hat-trick – including two penalties – appeared to have the visitors cruising to victory in their penultimate South Division clash of the season, especially when Lewis Grierson was ordered off for Lochgelly in the final 20 minutes.

But goals from a trialist and Darren Seath made the closing stages more nervy than they should have been for Rosyth, who occupy the second promotion spot ahead of their final match of the season at home to Dunbar United.

Falkirk are the only team who can finish above Richardson’s team and are five points adrift having played two games less but the West Fifers’ chances of stepping up to the Premier League next season were in severe danger of being critically hit as Albert staged a grandstand finish.

The visitors took the lead after 21 minutes when top scorer Hampson netted with a header but it took them until the 58th minute to extend that advantage in controversial circumstances from the penalty spot.

Richardson admitted the award was soft as Ryan O’Connor tumbled over goalkeeper Lee Wilson, who appeared to win the ball cleanly at his feet, but Hampson made no mistake and he soon completed his treble with another spot kick after Michael McMillan’s run was brought crashing to a halt.

The home trialist pulled one back with 17 minutes left before Grierson received a second yellow card for dissent but Rosyth struggled to see the game out convincingly and Seath’s injury-time goal made them sweat.

Richardson said, “I was delighted to get the win in the end. When we were 3-0 up, and especially when they had a man sent off, I thought we were on easy street but they went three at the back and three up front and we started to panic. We were kicking the ball anywhere and the last 15 minutes was not pretty, which I would say was down to inexperience from our players. But you need to give Lochgelly lots of credit because they probably deserved a draw.

“We’ve got one game to go so we have to go out and give it a real go. We can still dream of winning promotion but, whatever happens, I’m really proud of the players because they’ve been brilliant this season. We’ve been punching above our weight when you look at our resources compared to other teams but it gives us a great platform going into next season.” DFT Fife and Lothians Cup, third round: Camelon Juniors 1 Kelty Hearts 1 (Camelon win 5-3 on penalties) KELTY HEARTS suffered a blow ahead of their huge Super League clash with Bo’ness United by suffering penalty heartbreak at Camelon in the Fife and Lothians Cup.

Boss Thomas Courts had hoped his side could mount a challenge in the competition but the Mariners, who will meet Kelty again on league business before the season’s end, held their nerve from the spot to advance to a quarter-final meeting with Newtongrange Star.

The Central Park side can now look ahead to a potentially decisive home match with champions Bo’ness on Saturday in the knowledge that victory – along with maximum points in their remaining two fixtures with Lochee United and Camelon – would be enough to seal a maiden title.

Courts, however, will be disappointed that his ambition of a league and cup double fell at Carmuirs Park in a match where Kelty’s prolific forwards struggled to break down a resolute home defence for large spells.

It was Camelon who took the lead four minutes before the break when Derek Ure fired a thunderous free kick beyond goalkeeper Kyle Allison before Scott Dalziel quickly equalised for Hearts on the stroke of half-time by bundling home Conrad Courts’ corner.

The home side looked more dangerous after the break but when the match went straight to a shoot-out, Camelon stopper Iain Ure proved to be the hero as he saved Sean O’Neill’s kick to help seal a 5-3 triumph.

Attention now focuses on the league and Courts said, "The disappointment subsided when the fixtures came out and we saw we had Bo'ness on Saturday. It is really exciting for us because this time last year we were venturing into the unknown in terms of the play-offs, so the transition from nerves to excitement has been palpable around the club. Bo'ness are still trying to fight for the title but I am concerned more about what we do.

"There's real excitement for the game and the occasion and this group of players are thriving on the big stage at the moment. On Saturday we tried everything on the day but we have to look ahead. We've got used to being top of the league and that is where we want to finish."

Jeanfield Swifts 4 Oakley United 3 FUMING Oakley United boss James Watt described his side’s first-half showing as “shambolic” and warned they face a fight to avoid relegation from the Premier League.

The Blairwood Park men were 4-0 down by the interval and faced a humiliating defeat in Perth but after some strong words in the dressing room, they made a fist of things in the second half as an Alan McDonough hat-trick brought some respectability to the scoreline.

Oakley might even have snatched a point by the end but Watt was left to rue a horror opening 45 minutes where goals from Aaron Whitehead, Daryl Robertson, Chris McLeish and Ryan Winter ultimately decided the game in Jeanfield’s favour.

The loss means that United are 10th with four matches left and although they have a 10-point cushion over second-bottom Dundee North End, the Taysiders have four games in hand.

Watt told Press Sport, “We were dreadful in the first half and it could easily have been eight, we were that bad. It was shambolic as too many of our players weren’t at it and the goals we lost were because of individual errors. It was schoolboy defending and we didn’t retain the ball, we didn’t want to organise each other and although we played a lot better after half-time, it doesn’t paper over how poor we were in the first half.

“It was really disappointing because the attitude and effort level looked sub-standard. It’s not acceptable when we’re in a fight to stay in the division and the sooner the players realise that we are, the better. The boys know they let themselves and the club down and they need to take responsibility but there are some things that I need to look at in terms of setting the team up.

“We won’t want favours from other teams because we want to do the job ourselves and show that we deserve to stay in this league. We’ve got four massive games left against top opposition but we know that we can play against these teams.” l Saturday’s fixtures (kick-offs 2.30pm): McBookie.com Super League – Kelty Hearts v Bo’ness United. McBookie.com Premier League – Oakley United v Dundonald Bluebell. McBookie.com South Division – Crossgates Primrose v Stoneyburn Juniors, Rosyth v Dunbar United.