Peebles Rovers boss Ger Rossi happy with point from Fife trip

The Fifers are currently fifth in the East of Scotland Football League’s second division, with 28 points from 14 games – five league places and six points better off than Rovers, having played two games fewer – so Rossi reckons a point was a respectable return from that trip, especially seeing as the Borderers ended the match a man short, Kyle Kivlichan having been sent off for fouling Derryn Kesson.

Mikey Robertson put Peebles in front 23 minutes in but that goal was cancelled out by Lewis Sawers on 70 minutes. Rossi’s side managed to shut out their hosts for the remaining 20 minutes of normal time and six minutes of stoppage time to keep the scoreline at 1-1, however.

That draw leaves Rovers tenth in the table ahead of a visit from third-placed Dalkeith Thistle this coming Saturday, with kick-off at 1.30pm.

“We are making a point of being very hard to beat,” Rossi told his club’s website.

“We had a group of boys yet again going above and beyond the call of duty for each other. That’s really the long and short of it.

“We knew our task was going to be a really tough one before a ball was kicked, so our team talk was about grabbing opportunities if they presented themselves.

“The back four literally threw their bodies on the line for the full 90, with Callum Mackenzie and Mikey standing out throughout.

“Young Luke MacLean also deserves a pat on the back for his efforts. The work that kid gets through for his team-mates is incredible.

“There’s no getting away from the fact that we were playing against a proper team and had to hang on for spells in the second half. Going down to ten men on a difficult park also meant we had it all to do in the final stages and it would have been easy to combust, especially with the quality they had on the pitch, so huge credit goes to every single one of those boys who kept on going to the end.

“It was a real squad performance, including the boys that came off the bench.”