Kelty Hearts ..................................... 2
Curry 29, McGeorge 82
Linlithgow Rose .............................. 2
Grady 13, Feeney 60


With little at stake for either side, Rose made four changes from the team that beat Bonnyrigg in midweek.

McArthur and Bradley dropped out of the picture altogether while Carrigan and Tyrell were on the bench.

In their places came Aaron James, Danny Smith, Ian McSween and Euan Donaldson.

Rose started the game purposefully, forcing a number of early corners.
A quickly taken free-kick released Gordon Herd but a well-timed
last-ditch tackle by Winiarski saved the day for Kelty.

Linlithgow took the lead with a well-crafted goal in the 13th minute.
Donaldson played a pass into James who turned smartly and headed to the byline before squaring for Sean Grady to net the opener.

Kelty threatened immediately and John Martin saw a curling effort drift just over the bar.

Rose left back Mike McDermott hobbled off on the 15-minute mark and was replaced by Brian Carrigan whose rest on the bench proved to be
short-lived.

The re-jigged Rose line up had to endure a spell of pressure from the home team and it was no great surprise when Kelty equalised on the half hour.

The Linlithgow defence was sucked into the near post area and when the cross was delivered to the back post Currie controlled the ball well, cut inside Donaldson, and fired the ball past Pinkowski.

Smart had a good chance to put the home team ahead after being played in by Martin but he fired straight at Pinkowski.

Gordon Herd was brought down on the edge of the Kelty box and Rose's bad luck with injuries continued as he had to be stretchered off with a broken ankle. Robbie Feeney came on as substitute and the free-kick was well placed by Carrigan but Fleming managed to parry it and the Kelty defence reacted quickly to clear the danger.

On the stroke of half time, Martin ran clear but put the ball too far ahead of himself and Pinkowski was able to gather.

Rose completed their quota of substitutions early in the second half when Tyrell replaced Smith.

The pendulum swung in Linlithgow's favour again and Rose enjoyed a spell of pressure that paid off on the hour mark. McSween covered a lot of ground before feeding Grady who in turn found Feeney.

The ex-Dundee United man gleefully drove the ball home at the near post to claim his 10th goal of the season.

Rose pushed on to try to seal the game and Feeney was unfortunate to see a shot well saved. Tyrell then set Grady scampering up the line and Fleming smothered his low cross at Carrigan's feet.

Yet another injury occurred when Donaldson took a blow to the foot and spent the remainder of the game hobbling about in the middle of the park as Rose had no substitutes left.

Effectively down to 10 men, Rose found the tide of the game turning once again as Kelty exerted some pressure.

When the equaliser came there was more than a hint of misfortune about it. Firstly the referee awarded Kelty a corner when everyone was expecting a goal kick. Then, when the corner came in, a Rose clearance cannoned off McGeorge and flew into the net.

There were more bookings than chances in the closing period and the last glimmer of a win disappeared when McSween's injury time shot went wide.

Linlithgow Rose: Pinkowski, Gallacher, McDermott (Carrigan 15), Donnolly, Wilson, James, Grady, Smith (Tyrell 57), Herd (Feeney 41), McSween, Donaldson. Subs (not used) Burnett, McGlynn.
MARTIN BLACK