Crossgates Primrose 4 West Calder United 1

ALAN CAMPBELL is eyeing a Junior Cup upset this weekend after Crossgates blew third-placed West Calder United away on Saturday.

The Humbug Park men will welcome Beith Juniors – winners of the trophy in 2016 – in the third round after earning their second successive South Division victory.

During an evenly-matched first half, it was the hosts who took the lead with half an hour on the clock when Andy Watt finished off a well-worked set-piece, and the hitman then doubled his and Primrose’s tally just five minutes after the interval.

That was the cue for Crossgates to go on and dominate proceedings and, just seven minutes later, Ally Campbell made it 3-0 before Watt completed his hat-trick in the 67th minute.

Although the visitors pulled a goal back in the closing stages, Primrose were well worthy of their sixth league maximum of the season and Campbell is now relishing their cup clash with the Ayrshire big guns.

Beith are top of the West Region Super Premier Division but he said: “We’ll go into that in a good way and with confidence, although we’ll have to be on our guard because we know they are going to be a good side.

“They’ve got some ex-senior players as well but you only have to look at the senior Scottish Cup to see that upsets can happen. We hope that we can catch them on an off day but our pitch I don’t think is the best, so maybe that could be a leveller for us. You never know.

“We played well on Saturday and the result and performance was pleasing. The first half was pretty even and there wasn’t much in it but we got the goal and I expected a really difficult second half.

“But we scored just after half-time and that killed it. We got stronger and stronger after that and you could see the confidence around the whole team.

“The shackles are off and we’re playing with freedom.”

Edinburgh United 2 Oakley United 3

LEE RICHARDSON believes that his squad have been galvanised by a difficult week after they earned an impressive comeback win at Edinburgh United.

The Oakley United boss was thrilled with his side’s effort in overturning a two-goal deficit to claim a second league success on the road at the second-top capital club on Saturday.

The Blairwood Park men hit the headlines for the wrong reasons last week when goalkeeper Ross Wortley was red-carded and will be the subject of a disciplinary hearing today (Thursday) for brawling with some of his own fans in their 5-1 East of Scotland Cup loss to Tranent.

Richardson fielded two new signings in his starting line-up – former Selkirk centre back Dan Greig and ex-Cowdenbeath youngster Jack Cowan – while a third recruit, Dalkeith Thistle’s Tyron McLean, was on the bench.

Low sunshine at Paties Road caused the visitors problems early on and a free kick swung into the box, which bounced over the visiting goalkeeper and off the bar, was eventually headed in by Johnson, who doubled his side’s lead after just 19 minutes with a deflected free kick.

Richardson felt Oakley were unfortunate to be two down and his team rallied, pulling a goal back through Gavin McMillan before Lee Duffy hauled them level before half-time from the penalty spot after James McAteer had been brought down.

The visitors remained firmly on the front foot in the second half and, with 15 minutes left, Duffy headed in at the front post to seal an excellent three points before this Saturday’s Junior Cup clash with four-time winners Linlithgow Rose.

Richardson commented: “We played really well. We were 2-0 down after 20 minutes with what was their only two attacks of the first half.

“We picked it up and, at half-time, I couldn’t see us getting beat. We created a good few chances in the second half and Lee Duffy’s scored with a header at the front post with 15 minutes to go.

“What happened (with Wortley) has galvanised the squad; it’s like they have a siege mentality. They work so hard and that’s great for me as a manager.

“Dan Greig came in and had a great game, we were without Wullie Gardiner so I moved Lee Dawson in from right back to centre half, and he had a great game as well.

“Linlithgow have been one of the best teams in the east for a few years now and these are the games you want to play in, against the best in the country. If they take us for granted or have a bit of an off day, you never know, but we’re looking forward to it to see how far we’ve come.”

Livingston United 1 Rosyth 3

ROSYTH kept up the pressure on the promotion chasers by racking up their fourth win in five away games at Livingston United.

Barry Cockburn’s team recorded their sixth win in eight South Division games on Saturday and are just three points behind second-top Edinburgh United, third-placed West Calder United and Armadale Thistle in fourth.

They’ve got a game in hand on two of those sides – Edinburgh and Armadale – and this three-goal haul took their tally to 35 in just 12 outings.

The Recreation Park outfit are going about their business quietly ahead of this weekend’s derby at Lochgelly Albert – one place immediately below them – and will be confident of continuing their impressive form at Gardiner’s Park.

There was little doubt about the end result in this one as Rosyth took control in the second half after Scott Russell gave them a first-half advantage.

Bailie Kay doubled their lead after the interval before Dale Prattis sealed the points with their third, despite Dean McLean’s late consolation for the home side.

Saturday’s fixtures (kick-offs 1:45pm unless stated):– Scottish Cup: Crossgates Primrose v Beith Juniors, Oakley United v Linlithgow Rose. McBookie.com South Division – Lochgelly Albert v Rosyth. East of Scotland League – Kelty Hearts v Preston Athletic (2.30pm).