Match date: 28th August 2021 Kickoff: 3.00 pm
With Dunbar’s proud tradition in The Scottish Junior Cup now finished when the club joined The East of Scotland League, it was time to ensure that this continued in their first ever Scottish Cup Preliminary Round match at home to Broxburn Athletic who currently sit third in the Premier League table.
The stage was set with the sun shining, the pitch and surroundings in immaculate condition, a huge crowd inside the ground and the Dunbar side welcomed onto the pitch by The Dunbar Royal British Legion Pipe Band.
Dunbar introduced new signing Darren Smith in midfield from the start and were forced into a couple of changes from last weekend with three players unavailable from last weekend.
With two minutes on the clock the hosts got of to the perfect start when Jamie Devlin sent Andy Jones clear on the right and despite the efforts of three Broxburn defenders he fired low under the keeper to give Dunbar an early lead and write his name into the history books as the first ever Dunbar player to score a goal in the Scottish Cup.
Ross Allum missed a chance for Broxburn minutes later when he shot wide from a Tait cross and they suffered an early blow after thirteen minutes when Greg Binnie went off injured and was replaced up front by Liam Ireland.
Darren Smith and Grant Thomson then combined well to create a chance for Bob Berry but his shot was cleared of the line by the Broxburn keeper’s feet as Dunbar tried to build on their lead.
Broxburn were beginning to dictate and squandered several chances with some poor finishing and fine saves by Daniel Laing in the Dunbar goal but their pressure finally paid dividends in the 40th minute when Ross Allum controlled a high ball, turned his marker and found Liam Ireland in the clear to fire home for a deserved Broxburn equaliser. All square at the interval and all to play for after the break.
Broxburn began the second half well with Liam Ireland going close from a Cammy Ross cross whilst Dunbar were always dangerous on the break with Andy Jones forcing the visiting keeper to parry out his effort before tempers began to fray with Dunbar’s Jamie Devlin and Broxburn’s Shaun Harrison ending up in the referee’s notebook after a bit of handbags in midfield.
The game swung dramatically in the 65th minute when a Broxburn corner was cleared out to Darren Handling and the speedy counter attack between Handling and Andy Jones found Jamie Devlin in the clear on the left and the striker drew the advancing Broxburn keeper before firing into the bottom corner to restore Dunbar’s slender lead.
Five minutes later and things got worse for the visitors when Jordan Wright was sent off for a last man tackle on Andy Jones leaving his side to play the last twenty minutes with only 10 men.
Before they had time to regroup Dunbar struck again with an opportunist goal from Jamie Devlin who was on hand to take advantage of a real mix up in the Broxburn defence and fire the loose ball into the net from an acute angle to score his second and Dunbar’s third of the game.
Dunbar used the extra man well spraying the ball from side to side and might well have increased their lead further with Fraser McLaren heading over from a Smith corner, Dan Purves having a shot cleared of the line and Michael Fairnie watching a header strike the top of the crossbar before the final whistle sounded and Dunbar safely into the Scottish Cup First Round draw with a tremendous team performance on a memorable day in Dunbar’s history.
Every player in the Dunbar side raised their game and now look forward to finding out their next opponents tonight, when the First Round draw is made with the Highland League and Lowland league teams being added to the winners of today’s games and the clubs who received byes from the Preliminary Round.
Not much time to celebrate though with an important League game at New Countess Park on Tuesday night with Tynecastle the visitors and kick off at 7.30 pm. Tickets for the match are on sale via the club’s Fanbase app:
Dunbar United :- Daniel Laing, Grant Thomson, Evan Fleming, Michael McFarlane, Scott Hay, Darren Smith, Bob Berry, Darren Handling, Jamie Devlin, Fraser McLaren, Andy Jones.
Substitutes :- Dan Purves, Michael Fairnie, Nicky Weir, Johnny Edmond, John Johnstone.
Broxburn Athletic :- Connor Wallace, Andrew Gillen, Craig Newall, Shaun Harrison, Jordan Wright, David Greenhill, Joe Tait, Tom Cowley, Ross Allum, Greg Binnie, Cameron Ross.
Substitutes :- Gary Brass, Liam Ireland, Jack Beesley, John Grant, Gordon Donaldson, Chris Townsley, Shaun Donoghue.
Referee :- George Calder
Assistant Referees :- Rhys Struthers, Dale Kerr.
Match report courtesy of Laurie Wood
Photos by David Black.
Mon the Seasiders!
