Whitehill dig deep to secure win

An 85th minute Dayne Robertson free-kick gave ten-men Whitehill Welfare all three points at Fernieside to keep the pressure on Spartans at the top of the Premier Division.

The visitors had taken the lead from the penalty spot five minutes into the second half, but at the same time were reduced to ten after Wayne McIntosh was ordered off. Tynecastle made the most of the extra man to pull level through Josh Morris before missing a fistful of chances to take the lead themselves. Whitehill’s second half chances were few and far between but Robertson’s set piece was all that was required to seal victory.

“I think we dominated the first half although to be fair to Tynecastle they put us under some pressure after the sending off,” said Whitehill boss Rab Paget. “But I think down to ten men we played our hearts out for the remaining 40 minutes. With Spartans winning we really had to get three points to stay on their coat tails going into the break.”

Whitehill had the ball in the back of the net after just two minutes only for the linesman to signal offside. The visitors also had an Aaron Sommerville effort scrambled frantically off the line in the 24th minute.

Tynecastle were restricted to one clear opportunity in the opening 45 minutes, with Morris rolling a 20-yard effort a foot past the left hand post with just the keeper to beat.

The game’s turning point came in the 51st minute. A foul on Young inside the box gave Wayne Sproule the opportunity to fire Whitehill into the lead from the penalty spot, but only after McIntosh was shown a straight red card in the aftermath of the penalty decision.

The extra man gave Tynecastle a massive boost, and on several occasions their front line stretched the Whitehill. Morris was able to pull the home side level in the 75th minute with an impressive lob over the keeper. Both Morris and Caddow then both sent good efforts wide, while See spurned the best chance of the lot from ten yards out.

In the 85th minute Whitehill were gifted a free kick five yards outside the area. Robertson’s low drive nicked off the wall and squeezed into the net off the inside of the upright.

Tynecastle: Vannet, Aird, D McAleavy, Speed, Foster, Hastings, Mearns, Stevenson, Caddow, Morris, See. Subs: Pettigrew, C McAleavy, Steven, Polowyj.

Whitehill Welfare: Walker, Hall, W Kidd, Bonthrone, Herd, A Kidd, McIntosh, Sommerville, Young, Manson, Sproule. Subs: Robertson, Sinclair, Swanson.