Match date: 18th August 2021 Kickoff: 7.30pm
Dunbar travelled to West Lothian on Wednesday night looking to maintain their League form and improve on their last visit to New Murrayfield Park when they suffered a heavy defeat almost two years ago.
Both sides took time to adjust to the pace of the artificial surface before John Drummond went close for the hosts in the 19th minute when he headed wide from a corner kick. Dunbar were moving the ball well and Fraser Neave was unlucky to see his goal bound shot deflect of the face of a Blackburn defender who was rooted to the spot.
Jordan Purves then created a great chance on the overlap from the left driving into the box before being taken out by a Blackburn player but the referee waved play on and denied what looked like a Dunbar penalty.
With Dunbar beginning to dominate it was no surprise when they opened the scoring in the 38th minute when an inch perfect pass from Dean Whitson sent Andy Jones clear and after holding of his marker he blasted the ball high into the net from a narrow angle to give the visitors the lead.
Blackburn tried hard to get a foothold before half time when an overhead kick was saved well by Daniel Laing in the Dunbar goal but the visitors went in at the break with a deserved one goal lead.
Two minutes after the restart and Blackburn equalised with a controversial goal after a free kick was headed downwards at the back post and saved by the Dunbar keeper only to have the ball kicked out of his hands whilst on the ground, with John Drummond claiming the goal but despite the Dunbar protests the goal was given.
Dunbar pushed on and went close when Nicky Weir headed a corner wide but Blackburn counter attacked and Baillie Ferris fired over the bar after a neat bit of play on the left wing. The same player headed a corner wide in the 66th minute with a diving header and Daniel Laing did well to save from yet another Blackburn corner a few minutes later.
With the game opening up Dunbar went close with a shot from Jordan Purves before Fraser McLaren headed an Andy Jones cross inches over the bar. Michael McFarlane then had a back post header saved by the Blackburn keeper before the same player saw his low shot deflected by a defender into the path of Grant Thomson on the right whose fierce cross only needed a touch but Dunbar’s luck was out with no takers to finish the move off.
With two minutes left Blackburn broke away quickly up the right in numbers but Jordan Purves timed his tackle to perfection to keep the score intact. Deep into injury time Jamie Devlin hooked the ball into the side netting as Dunbar searched for a winning goal before the referee blew for full time.
Dunbar’s third League draw in a row was probably a fair result moving them into sixth position in the League table after eight games played and already more points won than the whole of last season which was curtailed because of Covid.
Another hard game on Saturday when Dunbar visit Linlithgow Rose with kick off again at 2.30 pm, before the big Scottish Cup clash against Broxburn Athletic at New Countess Park, on Saturday 28th of August.
Blackburn United :- Saunders, Drummond, Millar, Cameron, Sayers, Howe, Kane, McClung, Hutton, Ferris, Sweeney.
Dunbar United :- Daniel Laing, Jordan Purves, Michael McFarlane, Grant Thomson, Dean Whitson, Bob Berry, Fraser Neave, Nicky Weir, Fraser McLaren, Darren Handling, Andy Jones.
Substitutes :- John Johnstone, Kieran Ingram, Jamie Devlin, Johnny Edmond, Michael Fairnie, Steven Hay, Evan Fleming
Referee :- John Stewart
Asst Referees :- Finlay Anderson, Steven King
Match report courtesy of Laurie Wood
Photos by David Black.
