Rose wilt in face of derby day pressure
Linlithgow Rose suffered a disappointing defeat at the hands of fierce rivals Bo’ness United – and it was an ex-Rose trio who helped stick the boot in at Prestonfield.
Colin Strickland, Roddy MacLennan and his brother Ruari all enjoyed a trophy-laden spell at Linlithgow but they shone for United in their first visit to their former home since penning deals for Bo’ness.
Despite the final outcome, it was the hosts who had the better of the early chances and United had former Livingston goalkeeper Darren Jamieson to thank after he pulled off a terrific stop from a close-range Graham Weir strike.
That proved to be crucial as the visitors would go into the break a goal down when Stuart Hunter bulleted a header from Robert Sloan past the helpless Richie Barnard in the Rose goal.
Roddy MacLennan then waltzed past a pair of Rose defenders, but Barnard was more than a match for his strike.
Feeling aggrieved at being behind when the half- time whistle blew, Linlithgow were shell-shocked after conceding two goals in the first five minutes after the break. Ross Philp forced a neat save from Barnard but from the resulting Ruari MacLennan corner, Ross Campbell headed home to double his side’s advantage.
Having barely had time to recover from that setback, Davie McGlynn’s men found themselves three goals behind when Strickland latched on to a Philp ball before neatly setting-up Fraser Keast.
The former Broxburn Athletic winger made no mistake as he tucked the ball home from close range.
With the game having now swung firmly in their favour, United would have made it four if not for a terrific stop from Barnard as he reacted magnificently to a deflected Strickland free-kick.
Jamieson, on loan from Hamilton Academical, made a smart save from exLivingston team-mate Jack Beaumont as the game entered the final stages to preserve his clean-sheet.
At the other end, the impressive Barnard tipped a Chris Donnelly header on to the bar to keep the final deficit at three goals.
As they look to get back on track, Linlithgow couldn’t have asked for a more difficult clash this weekend when they make the trip to Kelty Hearts.
The Fife outfit currently occupy top spot, having won all seven games.