Broxburn Athletic 1-3 Musselburgh Athletic: McGlynn waxes lyrical as Broxburn put to the sword

The East Lothian side could easily have been two or three goals up before falling behind to a Scott Pittman strike on the half-hour mark.

They responded, however, to that setback with a three-goal salvo in the space of eight minutes and ran out deserved winners, even though the hosts were twice denied by the woodwork in the second-half.

McGlynn, who has masterminded some impressive Burgh performances during his spell in charge at Olivebank, described the visitors’ display in the decisive opening 45  minutes as “phenomenal”.

“You won’t see football played much better than we produced in the first-half – it was a  pleasure to watch,” he said.

“There aren’t many teams who come here and play like that against Broxburn. Our movement was fantastic and that caused them all sorts of problems.”

Matti King, Connor Thomson and Ben Miller all had shots saved early on during a whirlwind start by the visitors, while Ryan McCallum also blasted over at the end of another sweeping move.

Broxburn then struck against the run of play, Pittman  getting space in the box to turn inside and fire in a shot that hit Burgh keeper Ally Adams but still managed to find the back of the net.

Yet, if the side sitting third in the table thought that would prove a game-changing moment, they were in for a nasty shock.

Thomson hauled Musselburgh level just three minutes later when he found space on the edge of the box to steer a low shot past Charles Clark.

Four minutes after that King got in behind the Broxburn defence to slam home an unstoppable half-volley and, another four minutes later, it was 3-1.

Thomson was brought down on the edge of the box and the lively left-winger fired in a low cross from the free-kick that hit Clark on the forearm and spun up into the net.

Having been told a few home truths by manager Steve Pittman at the break, Broxburn did most of the pressing after the break. Pittman Jnr came close to his second of the game with a shot that hit Adams’ right-hand post before Brian Fairburn saw a thunderbolt come crashing back off the crossbar.

Lee Johnston, a first-half  substitute for the injured Paul Millar, did find the net only to be flagged for offside.

The same official had infuriated Broxburn just beforehand with a bizarre decision, flagging for offside when the ball had clearly been cut back from close to the corner flag. And, as his frustration boiled over, the home manager was sent off by referee Gavin Duncan.

In fairness to Pittman, he  refused to dwell on that after the final whistle, preferring to focus instead on why his side had come unstuck.

“We were not at the races from the outset and I think it was probably a case of them believing in their own hype,” he said. “We’ve got to brush ourselves down and start all over again against Bonnyrigg this weekend, but I won’t accept a first-half performance like that again, that’s for sure.”

In contrast, McGlynn could have no complaints about any of his players on a day when they overcame the absence of suspended trio Calvin Shand, Michael McKenna and Jackie Myles to pick up the three points.

Broxburn Athletic: Clark, Rycroft, Gibson, Cairns, Fairweather, Young, Keast (Jeffrey 74), Millar (Johnston 33), Cowan, Pittman, Fairbairn. Subs: Miller, Martindale, Malley.

Musselburgh Athletic: Adams, Moyes, Noble, Russell, Hamilton, Wilson, Murray, Miller, King, McCallum, Thomson (Renton 90). Subs: Sinclair, Cornett.

Referee: Gavin Duncan.