Haddington have been handed some tough cup draws so far this season. Last night they travelled to face Lowland League side Linlithgow Rose in the first round of the East of Scotland Qualifying Cup. Manager Scott Bonar made some changes from the side that beat Glenrothes at the weekend with Lucas McGarry, Mikey Robertson, and Ben Bathgate all in the starting line up. The visitors survived an early scare when the Rose hit the bar but they settled into the game and matched their more fancied opponents. An early booking for Ben Bathgate was to prove crucial to the outcome of this cup tie. Both Grant Rose and Tom Davies created opening as Haddington looked for an opener. However a second booking for Bathgate minutes before the interval saw the visitors reduced to ten men.
The Hi Hi’s fought hard after the break and defended well against quite a few corners. Substitute Gary Windram was prominent as Haddington came close a couple of times. The home fans were getting restless as the match entered the final twenty minutes goalless, but the Rose broke the deadlock in the 73rd minute when they got the break of the ball in the box. Things were to get quickly worse for the visitors when Craig Reid was ordered off after conceding a penalty from which Linlithgow added another. The nine men fought gamely but conceded two late goals to give the home side a rather flattering margin of victory.
