ON FIRE CURRIE
Jack at the double as United win derby day
A Jack Currie double ensured Fauldhouse United had the derby day bragging rights – and put them in the driving seat for promotion.
A fine second-half display saw the Hoose take all three points while their main rivals for second spot in the Premier League, Haddington Athletic, suffered a surprise 3-0 loss at Tranent.
The striker gave his team the perfect start as he powered a header beyond Ross Harkness in the Thistle goal just two minutes into the match.
Instead of building on that early momentum, United let the hosts get back into the clash and they drew level on 11 minutes when Aiden McKee brilliantly dispatched his effort into the far corner.
The frontman missed a great opportunity to give his side the lead four minutes later when he latched on to a through ball but couldn’t get the better of United goalie JC Hutchison.
At the other end, Harkness did well to tip a David O’Donnell free-kick over the bar before Currie squandered a great chance when a heavy first touch allowed the stopper to race off his line and smother the ball in the closing stages of the first half.
He would grab his second of the afternoon eight minutes into the second half with a close-range header as United started the brighter of the two sides after the interval.
A third goal for the visitors wasn’t long in arriving as Jamie MacLeod was the quickest to react after Harkness had initially pulled off a smart save from substitute Ben Magee.
Thistle boss Mikey Wilson almost got the instant reaction he wanted but Hutchison was able to produce a fine save from an attempted chip by Darren Dalrymple.
Unfortunately for the Jags, that would
be their best chance of getting back into the contest with Fauldhouse controlling much of the remaining half hour to grab a vital three points in their bid for an immediate return to the Superleague.
Hoose gaffer Jon Connolly admitted he was delighted after his players ground out another victory.
He said: “You can actually score too early and that’s what’s happened because we had a great start and went flat and let them back into the game.
“The first half was pretty even but credit to the boys because they’ve played a lot of football recently and to have the fitness levels in the second half was incredible.
“We changed the system at half-time to go a wee bit more attacking and it worked so I’m delighted.”
His Thistle counterpart – who was bizarrely sent-off for approaching the referee despite doing so at the request of the official – said the difference in performance in each half was frustrating.
He said: “We reacted very well to going down but we maybe spent too much energy in the first half.
“It was a really well- taken goal. I’ve been telling Aiden to have a pop more often and he has been doing that so it was good that we got rewarded.”
He added: “It was frustrating that we put in a performance like that in the first half and just couldn’t follow it up after the break.
“That’s really been our issue to be honest. We’ve been night and day too often.”
“There’s just too many mistakes happening just now and we need to try and change that.”