No stopping Station

Published on Tuesday 24 November 2009 08:40

UPHALL STATION registered their tenth win on the trot to seal a place in the third round of the Logan Cup at the expense of Tollcross Thistle in one of the few games to go ahead amid the wet conditions at the weekend.

On a greatly reduced fixture card following torrential rain, the game of the day at Saughton's artificial pitch between two top-of-the-table teams served up seven goals and no little controversy.

Uphall, currently top the Lothian and Edinburgh Amateur FA's Premier Division, eventually won through, but not before briefly trailing lower division Tollcross, first in the Edinburgh West league.

The West Lothian side, Premier champions in three of the past five league campaigns, opened the scoring through Robert McGregor, but were pinned back by a double from their hosts through Steven Bell and Sean Mossman.

But, lively striker Bamba Jobarteh notched a brace before half-time to restore Station's advantage, and two second-half strikes for Uphall, as well as a red card for Thistle's debutant goalkeeper Kevin Kesson, helped the visitors to a 5-2 victory.

Uphall manager Jim Wilson, with his side in pole position in the league and still in contention for all cup competitions, is pleased with the turnaround in fortunes for his team.

"Last season was atrocious, but we'll not go into that," he said. "To be honest, the way we're playing and with the results we've been getting, we shouldn't fear anyone. We have now played eight and won seven in the league, while winning all our cup games.

"We've never had any easy ties, though. In the Scottish Cup we got Kilbrachan, who were top of the Paisley League, and in the East of Scotland Cup we got Camelon, who were top in Falkirk."

Wilson had admiration for the way in which Tollcross carried themselves.

"Tollcross were a very good footballing team," he said. "They tried to get the ball down and play properly. We are playing well, but every match is like a cup final for us, because we're the team to beat. But, I'd like to take nothing away from Tollcross, who I'm sure will go far this season." Alan McKay returned the compliment to his opposite number, praising the way in which Uphall ground out their win.

He said: "There's a reason they're top of the league. They were not at their best but they did retain the possession well and pressed us high up the park – that is how they get results. Their manager did say that he felt we'd done ourselves justice and that it was one of his team's toughest games this season. We have a lot of young guys in our team and I'm very proud of the way we played, whereas they have a lot of experienced players who have been around the block.

"We're due to play Liberton AVU, who are bottom of the Premier, in the cup this weekend and we hope to be able to hold our own. We're not going to get too excited, though, because I'm sure Liberton will see it as a chance to get their season back on track."

Elsewhere, East Calder United and Spartans each won 2-1 at home in their Miller Cup second round matches, beating Burgh Vale and Dunedin Athletic respectively.

Fernieside were the victors by 2-0 over Bridgend United in the only Premier Division 2 fixture, while Heriot-Watt trounced Livithistle 7-2 in the sole Edinburgh West game.

Capital sides enjoyed little luck in the Scottish Amateur Cup, Meadow Star, Edinburgh Rose and Redhall Star 2008 all exiting the competition at the third round stage.