WHITBURN blew their chance of claiming the Super League title as a lacklustre performance saw Camelon tear them apart.
There were no excuses from Whitburn manager Derek Strickland as he and his players faced up to the fact they had just thrown
away their hopes of glory.
"We have no complaints," said Strickland. "The better team won on the day and it was all our own doing.
"We gave away goals that were criminal – and from players who have been superb for us all season.
"The players are down as well as the supporters. It's been a bad day for everyone at the club."
In front of a big crowd, both sides took time to settle but the opening goal, when it did come in the tenth minute, was a disaster for the Whitburn defence.
A long, high ball into the box saw Joe Mbu heading clear, but only to Chris Donnelly wide right.
His first-time header went straight to Jim Lister, all on his own, and he had the easiest of chances to glide the ball past Stewart Walker in the Whitburn goal.
The ball should have been cleared well out of the danger zone, especially with someone as clinical as Lister on patrol.
Just after the half hour Camelon pounced on another defensive blunder. Another long, hanging ball was played into the heart of the Whitburn defence.
Colin Leiper missed the bouncing ball as did Mbu, allowing Graeme McLaren to run in on the keeper and score easily.
A sore one for the Whitburn faithful.
The only saving grace was the news trickling through that Bathgate had taken the lead against Lochee.
Into the second half and Whitburn took heart from the Bathgate score and mounted a fresh attack on the Camelon goalmouth.
Within five minutes they had a great chance to reduce the deficit. Darren Moonie's piledriver from ten yards was brilliantly saved by the keeper, who had to produce another top-drawer save from Scott Murphy only minutes later.
Whitburn needed a goal to give them a lifeline but the next strike came at the other end.
Jim Lister chased a long ball way down the left wing with Mbu in close pursuit. Lister crossed for Chris Donnelly coming in on the far right and he drove the ball past Walker for a great finish.
Whitburn will claim it was offside but really they should have cleared the ball earlier.
The result was now in no doubt and, as the news came in that Lochee had gone ahead against Bathgate, the mood of the Whitburn faithful deepened as they realised the title was once again eluding them.
The Central Park faithful can accept defeat like any other side but as one fan said after the game: "It's a good job we got the points earlier in the season because, if we had played like that every week, we would be in the relegation zone."
Boss Strickland added: "The importance of the game was pointed out to the players and that makes the performance all the more disappointing.
"We all knew the consequences of a defeat and I believed we would win.
"However, we can't take anything away from a good Camelon side. But we've got to keep going and get as many points as possible.
"There's still an outside chance we could win it but we would need a miracle."
Camelon manager Alan McGonigal said: "That was a typical game for us. We have a young side with three players under twenty. We scored the goals at just the right time.
"I thought we were sharper in every area of the pitch. We were hungrier for the ball and we played the better football.
"There was only one team going to win and that was us.
"We have football players who like to play the ball about and that showed against Whitburn.
"I can't praise my players enough after the season we've had. It's been tough at times but we're at the right end of the table and the season's not finished yet."
Whitburn's management have a tough job on their hands now to try and lift them for the rest of the season.
They still have a lot to play for but they need to play a lot better than they did against Camelon.
Whitburn: Walker, MacKay (S Murphy), Ramage (Roberts), Leiper, Mbu, J Murphy, Flanagan, Hannah, Lurinsky, Strickland (Mooney), Moonie. Subs: Kenny, Carson.
Camelon: Hutchison, Bell, Batchelor, Graham (Mitchell), Cringean, Nixon, Donnelly (Currie), Shirra, Lister, Bannatyne, McLaren. Subs: Gillespie, Mooney, Ryan.
The full article contains 769 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
