Defeat for Elgin City in League 1 play-off semi-final first leg as Edinburgh take crucial lead after 1-0 win at Borough Briggs
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ELGIN City lost the first leg of their League 1 play-off clash with Edinburgh City on Saturday.
Edinburgh attacker Josh Campbell fired home the only goal of the game to put a dagger in Elgin hearts and leave the north side with a lot to do in Tuesday’s second leg.
Elgin manager Gavin Price named an unchanged line-up from the midweek win over Queen’s Park.
Elgin had the first sight of goal from a 25 yard free kick on two minutes and Kane Hester’s strike beat the wall but was gathered by keeper Calum Antell.
Five minutes later Matthew Cooper played Russell Dingwall down the right and his near post cross was stroked goalwards by Hester but Antell managed to block his effort at the post.
Hester was in the thick of things again on 15 minutes, firing in a drive which was netbound until Edinburgh centre back Lee Hamilton stuck out a leg to divert it for a corner.
Edinburgh’s first chance came just before the half hour when Elgin defender Darryl McHardy misjudged a through ball and Ouzy See nipped in and lobbed it over keeper Tom McHale but the ball drifted just past.
Two minutes later Elgin broke down the left and Aidan Sopel’s cross was fired wide under pressure by the lively Hester.
Edinburgh’s Josh Campbell, who opened the scoring when the teams met a week earlier, was given space to smack in a powerful drive which McHale saved but couldn’t hold and the home side eventually cleared the danger.
Right on half time the visitors took the lead against the run of play.
McHardy tried to clear from the back but Ouzy See closed him down and the ball cannoned into the path of Campbell, who advanced to steer a low drive wide of McHale from ten yards.
Hester had a shot on the turn blocked in a busy goalmouth as Elgin tried to hit their opponents with a quick equaliser.
Play was restricted to the midfield but a kind ricochet for Edinburgh saw Danny Jardine slot in Liam Brown, who dragged a left foot shot wide on the hour.
Then a break down the left by scorer Campbell created a shooting chance for Danny Handling, whose effort hit an Elgin arm at point blank range but ref Alan Newland swaved away the penalty appeals.
Campbell fired straight at McHale as the visitors began to dictate the play.
Elgin subs Conor O’Keefe and Josh Peters combined on 70 minutes for Peters to fire through a crowded goalmouth and inches wide of the far post.
Then a break by Cameron down the right led to O’Keefe trying a lob which didn’t have enough strength to beat a defender on the line.
On 83 minutes Antell rescued his team with a good stop at his far post to block McHardy's header from an Archie Macphee cross.
Elgin were piling on the pressure now and from a Macphee corner, Stephen Bronsky’s header was cleared off the line by Robbie McIntyre, before Craig Brown volleyed the rebound wide.
The final chance fell to Elgin’s Hester in stoppage time when he burst through but Antell got a touch on his rising drive to tip it to safety.
