Armadale Thistle came out on top with the derby bragging rights after a resounding 6-0 victory away to 10-man Pumpherston at Recreation Park which continues their momentum up the Conference X league table, writes Kieran Polland.
Scott Dalziel secured a brace for himself with two well taken strikes in the first half but was denied a hat-trick after missing a penalty from which Pumphy’s Darren MacGregor was sent-off.
Robbie Feeney struck a superb volley in between those two goals to send Armadale into the break 3-0 up.
Thistle then added to their tally thanks to Sammy Watson and Ruari MacLennan before an own goal from Pumphy substitute Corry McKeown capped off the proceedings.
The win takes Armadale a point behind Whitburn – who defeated Fauldhouse United 2-0 – and two points behind Bo’ness Athletic at the top of the Conference X league table as we hit the final stretch of the season.
Armadale started brightly as Feeney saw his shot fly past the post, and Pumphy goalkeeper Josh Blair almost conceded an own goal after a routine pick-up saw the ball slip through his hands and trundle just past the side netting.
Striker Ben Magee almost opened the scoring for the hosts after a good run into the box but saw his effort whizz near Robert Sloan in the Armadale sticks. But the Dale grabbed the lead in the 21st minute when Dalziel powered past Jordan Rodger and saw his effort rebound off Blair, who was unfortunate to see the striker gobble up the second chance.
Four minutes later, Feeney scored a goal of the season contender when a cross into the box was deflected into his path and the striker was only too happy to smash a volley into the top right-hand corner which gave Blair no chance.
Pumphy’s woes continued when MacGregor was sent off for a last-man foul on Dalziel, who promptly stepped up to take the penalty only for his effort to be saved by Blair. He would not be denied his brace however after he headed past Blair following Calum Rodger’s great cross shortly before half-time.
The second half continued in the same vein as the hosts failed to deal with a corner-kick and Watson found himself in the right place to tuck away after the ball was swung into the box from the second phase of play.
MacLennan then picked up the ball from midfield and curled his shot past Blair to stretch Armadale’s lead further.
As the game began to die down, Pumphy refused to lie down but could not find the final ball to cause any damage to the visitors.
McKeown managed to race through on goal and was able to round Sloan, but he could not guide the ball into the empty net after his effort was blocked on the line by an Armadale defender.
As the game entered the dying stages, Stuart McLeod was able to dink the ball over Blair but McKeown was unfortunate to see his last-ditch clearance ricochet off the post and over the line.
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