Haddington Athletic progressed to the last 16 of the South Challenge Cup thanks to a convincing 7-0 home win against Glasgow United this afternoon.
After a bright start the first goal of the match came after just three minutes, when Tom Davies finished well from the left after Grant Rose’s initial strike was hit straight at goalkeeper Nathan Coyne.
We doubled our advantage when Robbie Peffers rose at the back post to head firmly home from a great cross in from the left, putting us deservedly in front at the break. The visitors rarely tested our goalkeeper Jamie Smith, although veteran David Templeton – formerly of top flight sides such as Hearts and Rangers – did look lively throughout the proceedings.
We further extended our lead on 49 minutes when Luke Kennedy slammed the ball home eight yards out, after Gary Windram did well to beat his man coming into the box before teeing up his team-mate perfectly.
The fourth goal came on 61 minutes and it was a second of the afternoon for Robbie Peffers, tapping in at the back post. Tom Davies did well on the left, with a ball across goal just eluding Ryan Cameron and the opposition goalkeeper before Robbie found himself with a simple task.
Robbie, who has been playing at right back in recent months, completed a remarkable hat-trick on 73 minutes, stretching to connect with another cross from the left to put the ball into the back of the net from the back post once again.
Grant Rose scored his first goal of the season to put us 6-0 ahead on 79 minutes, stabbing the ball into the net from a few yards out. Our final goal of the afternoon came on 84 minutes with Gary Windram rounding off another fantastic individual performance, with his angled shot hit with power from almost the left touchline finding the net inside the back post.
It was an excellent win against a side expected to present us with a real challenge, having defeated West of Scotland Premier Division opposition in the previous round. Robbie Peffers, still only 19 and one of our longest serving players in the matchday squad, was deservedly voted sponsors’ player of the match.
The Hi Hi’s are back in action next Saturday (22 November) when we travel to Dundonald Bluebell for a Premier Division fixture.
