LINLITHGOW ROSE boss Brian Fairley watched his side cruise to a 4-0 win over Bonnyrigg Rose in the South League Cup, then demanded his players raise their game.
A double from former Falkirk striker Ian McSween and goals from Stuart McArthur and su
bstitute Sean Grady gave Fairley a dream result in his first competitive match in charge and ensured it was an afternoon to forget for new Bonnyrigg boss Alan Miller.
The victory puts the West Lothian club in pole position to qualify from a group which also contains Broxburn, Dalkeith Thistle, Pumpherston and Edinburgh United.
The tie was every bit as comfortable for the Prestonfield outfit as the 4-0 scoreline suggests, yet Fairley has warned he expects his side to improve their performances in the coming weeks.
"The positives are that we scored four and kept a clean sheet and if you'd offered me that before the game I'd certainly have taken it," he said.
"In terms of the result I couldn't have asked for any more and it sets us up for the section now. We still have a bit of work to do though as the performance was a bit below what we are looking for.
"The negatives would be that we didn't make better use of the possession we had in the second half. But we're only on the back end of pre-season I guess and we still have players to come back.
"But by the time the League Cup is over I would be looking for us to hit the ground running."
And hit the ground running they did at the weekend as Linlithgow fired themselves in front with just two minutes on the clock.
The Bonnyrigg defence failed to deal with an in-swinging Mark Bradley corner and, when Kevin Donnelly was allowed to head the ball back across goal, McSween was on hand to volley it into the net from 12 yards.
Midway through the first half the hosts doubled their advantage and again it came from a set-piece. Another Bradley corner was met by the head of McArthur and although David Burrell made a desperate attempt to keep it out, referee Gavin Ross judged that it had crossed the line.
Linlithgow were totally dominant in this match and Bonnyrigg only threatened the home side's goal once when James Morrice curled a dipping 20-yard effort just wide of the post with seven minutes of the half remaining.
After the interval things went from bad to worse for the visitors when Paul Parkin was sent-off for a second bookable offence after a late challenge on Sean Grady on the edge of his own area.
And Linlithgow made their numerical advantage pay with two late goals which put the gloss on a fine afternoon's work Firstly, Grady picked up the ball on the half way line and drove at the Bonnyrigg defence, twisting and turning his way past Keith Salton before blasting the ball beyond Craig Coyle from ten yards.
In injury time McSween completed the rout when young Kenny Waugh, signed from Hibs recently, saw his shot spilled by Coyle and McSween followed in the rebound to tap in.
The result leaves Bonnyrigg boss Miller with plenty to think about with his side having conceded 11 goals in their past two games, albeit Miller hadn't taken control when the New Dundas Park side were thrashed 7-1 by Newtongrange Star in their final pre-season fixture.
Miller has a proven track record of being able to find talented young players on a budget and he'll need all that experience if he is to establish Bonnyrigg as a force. But he revealed his first task is to get his players up to match speed.
"We knew it would be tough but what disappointed me most was the fitness of the Bonnyrigg players so we are going to have to work hard," he said. "Traditionally, Bonnyrigg have treated this competition as part of their pre-season but I prefer to try and win competitions that we are in.
"We'll now have to work hard for the next few weeks and hope to get the players up to a level where they are competitive. We have good players but we just need to work harder."
Linlithgow: Graham, Robertson, Waugh, Donnelly, Wilson, Tyrell, Livingstone (Geddes 60), Bradley, McSween, Black (Grady 60), McArthur (McDermott 75).
Subs: Hogg, Pinkowski.
Bonnyrigg: Coyle, Morrice, Parkin, Meikle, Salton, Reid, Burrell, Reilly, Flannery (Walker 73), McCaul, Plaiczka (Brigain 73).
Subs: Bracks, Laidlaw.
• TWO league cup fixtures which were off at the weekend have been rearranged for tonight. Arniston will play Musselburgh at Gorebridge and Tranent host Penicuik. Both matches kick off at 6.45pm.
