Match date: 18th September 2021 Kickoff: 3.00 pm
After beating Broxburn Athletic in the preliminary round of The Scottish Cup in late August, it was back to cup business on Saturday with Camelon the visitors in round one.
The sun was shining once again, the park looking in great condition, a really big crowd inside the ground and the players piped on to the pitch by the Dunbar Royal British Legion Pipe Band, but one fact remained relatively unknown was that Dunbar had never beaten their opponents since April 1990.
The visitors started on the front foot and might well have taken an early lead when Euan Baird skipped past Dunbar’s Michael McFarlane and fired across the face of goal where Sean Stewart’s effort was blocked by Nicky Weir on the Dunbar goal line.
Dunbar settled and went close when Andy Jones delicate cross was headed over the bar by Jamie Devlin. With play swinging from end to end Daniel Laing in the Dunbar goal did well to save from Darren McIssac and Euan Baird, before some great play between Andy Jones and Johnny Edmond saw the Dunbar striker’s shot deflected for a corner.
Dunbar were dealt a blow in the thirteenth minute when their captain Grant Thomson was injured after a late tackle and had to be replaced by Kieran Ingram causing a reshuffle in the Dunbar defence with Bob Berry moving to full back and Ingram playing a more familiar role in midfield.
Minutes later Jamie Devlin played in Fraser Neave for the hosts but his shot went high over the bar before Camelon’s Mikey Gould went close with a low cross from the right.
The deadlock was finally broken in the thirty eighth minute when Andy Jones collected a long diagonal ball wide on the left, out paced two Camelon players before firing an unstoppable shot in of the post despite a valiant effort from Jacob Welna in the Camelon goal.
Six minutes later and Dunbar scored again when Andy Jones and Fraser Neave combined well on the left and Neave’s cross to the back post was met brilliantly by Johnny Edmond to fire high into the net from an acute angle.
Minutes after the restart Evan Fleming might have increased Dunbar’s lead even more but his shot was cleared by some desperate Camelon defending before the visitors were forced to replace the dangerous Euan Baird up front after he twisted a knee with Jeremiah Otonti his replacement.
On the hour mark Andy Jones was sent clear but his shot was saved well by the Camelon keeper and Jamie Devlin’s follow up header was cleared of the line by Camelon’s Darren McIssac to deny Dunbar a third goal.
Otonti shot over as Camelon tried hard to reduce the deficit before Johnny Edmond was played in by Dunbar substitute Dan Purves but Edmond hesitated a fraction to long before his shot was blocked by a Camelon defender.
Ten minutes from time substitute Fraser McLaren combined well with Dan Purves with McLaren’s header heading for the top corner before the Camelon keeper somehow managed to tip the ball over for a corner and keep the scoreline intact.
Camelon pushed on to the end but were denied by some resolute Dunbar defending and deep into injury time they had a penalty claim waved aside before Dunbar counter attacked with Jamie Devlin running from well inside his own half only to be denied once again by another save from the visiting keeper.
Almost seven minutes of injury time played before the Camelon hoodoo was finally well and truly broken in tremendous fashion with Dunbar United clinching a well deserved place in The Scottish Cup Second Round.
All the players deserved a great ovation from the home crowd as they made their way back to the dressing room with memories that hopefully will stick with them for a long time to come, and everyone connected to the Club will now be focused on the second round to face either Lothian Thistle HV or Edinburgh University at New Countess Park.
Back to League business next weekend for Dunbar when Inverkeithing Hillfield Swifts are the visitors to New Countess Park with kick-off at 2.30pm. Tickets for this game are now on sale via the club’s Fanbase app:
Dunbar United :- Daniel Laing, Grant5 Thomson, Michael McFarlane, Nicky Weir, Evan Fleming, Fraser Neave, Darren Smith, Bob Berry, Andy Jones, Johnny Edmond, Jamie Devlin.
Substitutes :- John Johnstone, Kieran Ingram, Scott Hay, Jordan Purves, Fraser McLaren, Michael Fairnie, Ben Bathgate, Dan Purves.
Camelon :- Jacob Welna, Sean Stewart, Reece Boyle, Darren McIssac, Lewis McArthur, Jackson Cowan, Mitchell McDonald, Euan Baird, Mickey Gould, Mitchell Taylor, Arnault Kasa.
Substitutes :- Harry Osborne, Ryan Lametti, Greg Forrest, Jeremiah Otonti, Gary Mochrie, Scott McHaffie, David McFarlane.
Referee :- Gordon Seago.
Asst Referees :- Konrad Spalony, Gary Callachan
Match report courtesy of Laurie Wood
Photos by David Black and Gordon Maitland.
Mon the Seasiders!
