East of Scotland League, Premier Division:

Tranent Juniors 0 Inverkeithing Hillfield Swifts 1

INVERKEITHING Hillfield Swifts produced an "heroic" performance to pull off a stunning success at promotion-chasing Tranent Juniors on Saturday.

The visitors, who were shorn of four players through suspension and others through injury, inflicted the fancied East Lothian team's first home defeat since February last year thanks to Greig Spence's first-half goal.

Until the weekend, Tranent had lost just once in 15 league matches – a 3-1 defeat at Tynecastle in August, 10 games ago in all competitions – and had scored in every match they had played this season.

As well as boasting a perfect home record of seven wins from as many Premier Division outings, Calum Elliott's team last dropped points at their Forrester's Park ground in November 2020, when they drew with Sauchie.

The Swifts, despite having players absent, travelled across the Forth on the back of a 5-0 East of Scotland Qualifying Cup thumping of Camelon, and produced a magnificent performance.

And it was a goal worthy of winning any game that would ultimately seal the points thanks to experienced hitman Spence (pictured), who took advantage of a loose pass to bend an unstoppable shot into the bottom left-hand corner of the net.

Although Tranent had plenty of the ball, they struggled to create opportunities against a superbly-organised Inverkeithing side, who could even rely on goalkeeper Neil Mitchell to save a last-gasp penalty to preserve the win.

It sparked wild celebrations in the team's changing room post-match and, speaking to Press Sport, assistant boss Tam Graham said: "It was one of those days where we've gone away from home to a team that are definite favourites for the league, and we had four players suspended and a few injuries.

"We went with a somewhat depleted team, so it was a massive effort. Credit to the boys; they dug in and gave everything they had.

"Greig scored a cracker of a goal but I thought they had a lot of the ball after that without creating too many chances, and we had some chances as well.

"It was a fantastic day for the boys and they definitely deserved it."

Graham, who revealed that the Swifts also had four 17-year-olds on the bench, continued: "It was a brilliant result and a brilliant day for the club.

"Our goalie saves a penalty in the 90th minute but, apart from that, they didn't have any real clear-cut chances. It was not a stereotypical nail-biter; I always felt we were in control.

"We went on a wee tough run without picking up points but nothing changed behind the scenes. Nobody panicked; the team spirit has been fantastic.

"We need to keep that going on Saturday at Jeanfield. It's a tough place to go, and not many teams go there and get points, but that has to be our target."

East of Scotland League, First Division, Conference A:

St Andrews United 2 Rosyth 5

RUSSELL CRAIG said Rosyth must not be complacent ahead of Saturday's return with St Andrews United despite a five-star show on the road at the weekend.

The Rec will welcome Saints to the Fleet Grounds in the second part of a double-header between the two teams, which began with an emphatic win, complete with a match ball for Tam Hampson.

The striker set them on their way with 15 minutes on the clock after beating the hosts' offside trap.

He made it 2-0 on the half-hour mark, and had completed his hat-trick by the 37th minute, before Jake Grady pulled one back for the home side before the break.

Evan Stanfield reduced the deficit to just one goal as St Andrews started the second half well but a red card for Callum Mcaulay – which Craig believed was harsh – saw them reduced to 10 men just after the hour mark.

Rosyth took advantage as Regan Lumsden soon broke clear to add their fourth, with Jason Finlay wrapping up the points with his first goal for the club in stoppage time.

Craig, who was without suspended duo Callum Strang and Gregg Page, said: "We made a really positive start; in the first 10-15 minutes, we had strung together half-a-dozen, if not more, chances together.

"We had Tam Hampson back – he's been out for a couple of weeks – but I initially thought, would it be one of those days where we rue those missed chances?

"He scored a hat-trick within 15, 20 minutes, and that alleviated a lot of our concerns.

"St Andrews are coming down to us on Saturday; we've got Callum and Gregg back, and no new injuries. We have to make sure the boys are switched on and not be complacent – just because we beat them last week, we've no divine right to beat them again."

On Hampson's return, Craig added: "Tam's been our top scorer for a number of years now but we don't just want to rely on Tam. We've got goals throughout the team, with the likes of Gregg, Callum, Mikey Ness and Liam Queen.

"We're always entertaining to watch."

Saturday's fixtures (kick-offs 2.30pm): East of Scotland League, Premier Division – Jeanfield Swifts v Inverkeithing Hillfield Swifts, Newtongrange Star v Crossgates Primrose. First Division, Conference A: Rosyth v St Andrews United. Conference B: Hawick Royal Albert United v Oakley United.