Newburgh 2-1 Harthill Royal

The match the East Region Cup at Gibbshill Park resulted in a 2–1 win for Harthill in a closely fought encounter.

Some slick passing in the Newburgh midfield between Lambert and Hutchinson freed up Fraser Robinson on the wide left.

Some nice combination play with Kyle Fraser allowed him a run at the defence, his speed got him beyond the defender to slip the ball across the box to his brother Craig who smashed a shot beyond the Harthill keeper giving Newburgh the lead with only one minute on the clock.

Newburgh were playing well creating chances at will in the opening exchanges. Harthill were struggling to retain possession and were not threatening the Newburgh goal. Kyle Fraser was making a nuisance of himself with his ball retention giving Newburgh a foot hold up front.

With 20 minutes played Newburgh were keeping up the pressure on the Harthill goal.

A corner was defended by the visitors with the ball being cleared from the penalty area. The ball broke to Fraser Robinson 20 yards from goal. The ‘Burgh forward struck a shot perfectly that flew straight in to the top corner. A contender for goal of the season.

Newburgh were rampant and could have added to their goal tally before the half hour but for some resilient defending and good goalkeeping from the visitors.

The second half saw a different Harthill side as they tried to claw their way back into the game. The ‘Burgh defence was coping well Hall on the left and Johal on the right were tucked in supporting MacBride and Clark who were calmly dealing with anything that the visitors threw at them. Debutant Hutchison was having an excellent debut with Lambert and Smart linking up well with the youngster.

Harthill grabbed their goal with four minutes to play when Baillie slid the ball past Sutherland.