Battling Blackburn United unable to cause East of Scotland shock at home to Penicuik Athletic

Blackburn United failed to pick up their first home win since October despite a spirited 2-1 defeat to promotion hopefuls Penicuik Athletic, writes Callum McCormack.

Paul Tansey opened the scoring with a powerful drive from distance on the half hour mark with Andy Forbes doubling their advantage early in the second half.

United answered back with a late Michael Browne penalty but the whistle blew immediately after as they fell to defeat.

The hosts had every reason to feel confident of causing a shock and were in a buoyant mood after running out 5-1 victors over Dundonald Bluebell a fortnight ago. They were looking to climb out of the relegation spots with what would have been successive league wins for the first time this season.

The Burnie started well at a windy Purdie Worldwide Community Stadium and there were barely 20 seconds on the clock when Callum Heath cut in from the right for the first chance of the game. However, his shot was high and wide.

It was a fairly even start, with neither side really able to assert dominance and it would take until the 15th minute for either side to register their first shot on target. A long ball down field was cushioned by Danny Campbell to Heath but his effort was tame and handled easily by Robert Watt in the Penicuik goal.

Penicuik began to settle into the game and, on his 50th appearance for the Cuikie, Tansey was often the driving force behind it.

And he would open the scoring on 30 minutes with a thunderous, if slightly wind-assisted, effort into the left-hand side of the goal which left Craig Saunders with little chance.

The rest of the half would see few chances for either side, with each trying their luck from distance to no avail. Nicky Reid would have the ball in the net