Young caps fine fightback as Lothian stun Preston

LOTHIAN THISTLE staged a remarkable comeback after trailing by two goals midway through the second half to beat Preston Athletic 3-2 in the Central Taxis Premier Division at Saughton Enclosure last night.

Kevin Haynes gave Preston a half-time lead and then Chris Barton seemed to have won the the visitors all three points.

However, some missed opportunities cost them dearly as Lothian substitute Craig Stewart caused the Preston defence problems from the moment he was introduced. First, he crossed low for Lloyd Dignan to tap in from close range then he followed up with a high ball which Dignan headed into the net five minutes from time.

Lothian won the game in the final seconds when a Gavin Shandley corner was headed home by Lothian captain Jim Young. "I was happy with the last 15 minutes and three points but not with our overall performance," said Lothian's joint manager Fraser Ogilvie. "We were very slack, we never got the ball down and we showed no composure in the opening hour."

Heriot-Watt University suffered against Tynecastle after they conceded a goal in the 15th minute when Paul Devlin scored and then their own player, Ronnie Napier, was given two yellow cards for dissent in the space of 30 seconds and subsequently sent off. Wayne McIntosh secured the points for Tynecastle with a header from an Eddie Mearns cross late in the game after Dean Knight of Tynecastle had also been red-carded.

Elsewhere, Edinburgh City lost 2-0 at home to Stirling University, who move into third position, courtesy of goals from Robert Pearson and Emmot Parr-Gallagher.