Hawick RA beaten by basement boys

Hawick Royal Albert tumbled to their 10th league defeat of the season at Prestonpans.

They were facing basement club Preston, who moved off the foot of the table thanks to this win and also Selkirk’s thumping defeat at Spartans.

The Albert had the better of the opening exchanges, during which Josh Morris squandered good scoring opportunities.

Preston began to come more into the picture as the game progressed and opened the scoring in the 40th minute, when Fabio Neto rounded Albert ‘keeper Kyle Rankin to score.

Two minutes later, Royalists were reduced to 10 men by the red-carding of Chris Hughes for bringing down Stuart Ritchie.

Seconds from the interval, Josh Morris put the Albert on level terms, firing home after cutting inside.

In a dourly-fought second period, substitute Neil Shave put victory Preston’s way by slotting away a Neto pass.