Shadow team Whitehill still claim a point

WHITEHILL Welfare, despite being without eight players who started against Spartans at the weekend, are still in contention for the Central Taxis Premier Division title after they gained an extremely creditable 1-1 draw with Preston Athletic.

The result could have been better for the Rosewell club as they led with less than three minutes remaining when Preston's right back Mark Cathcart fought his way through two tackles wide on the right. His cross to the back post was met by substitute Kevin Haynes and his return ball was promptly headed into the net by Stuart Miller.

It was a blow for the young Whitehill outfit, who had limited Preston to long-range shots which had not troubled Scott Haldane in goals. A share of the points means Whitehill are 24 points behind league leaders Spartans although they do have eight games in hand and have still to play their Ainslie Park rivals.

After a goal-less first half the deadlock was broken in the 58th minute when a Steve McCormack shot was blocked and Paul Lynch fired over the rebound to the unmarked substitute Daryl Devlin who headed the ball low behind Jamie Thomson.

Gary Aitchison, the Whitehill manager, said: "I thought that considering our injury, suspension and unavailability problems we acquitted ourselves very well. We did not have any luck and it was annoying to lose a goal so late on but we are still in contention for the league title."

Stevie Myatt, the Preston manager, said: "There was not a lot wrong with our performance and we showed great spirit and great fight.

"We were very strong defensively and I was delighted to get something out of the game."