Second league win of year for Peebles Rovers

Their only other win so far this year in the East of Scotland Football League’s second division, also at home at Whitestone Park, was by 3-1 against Tweedmouth Rangers in February so manager Ger Rossi was relieved to get another three points on the board, even if it was a closer-run thing than he’d have liked.

A 29th-minute Luke MacLean goal was the only difference between the two sides but that was enough to take Rovers’ points tally up to 29 from 22 fixtures, and that sees them sitting in ninth place in the table ahead of a visit from seventh-placed Thornton Hibs this coming Saturday, with kick-off at 2.30pm.

“We made it hard for ourselves again but the boys delivered a solid three points,” Rossi told the club’s website.

“In true Rovers fashion, the game went down to the wire when it probably should have been a lot more comfortable.

“Defensively, after a small blip last weekend, I felt the back four were outstanding once again in the way they controlled the game.

“Our midfield also put in a massive shift, especially when we went down to ten men, and our forward players took real pressure off us at crucial moments.

“All in all, it was a real team performance in terms of managing the game, but the game should’ve been put to bed earlier.

“Credit to Craigroyston, though, as they pushed us to the end. They’re a young, energetic side and I felt they were always dangerous on the counter-attack.

“It would be fair to say we weren’t at our free-flowing best, but again I felt we controlled the game for the large majority of it.

“The boys always put a big shift in, but we will have better days in front of goal.”