Broxburn Athletic seal Scottish Cup first round place after win over Blackburn United

Broxburn Athletic claimed the West Lothian bragging rights and booked a Scottish Cup first round place in the process as they defeated Blackburn United 3-0 at Albyn Park.

A crowd of over 300 witnessed the first West Lothian derby in the competition since 1926 as the two sides battled it out in the Preliminary Round.

Gary Brass opened the scoring with a fine header on 18 minutes before an inspired display by United keeper Jakub Welna kept the visitors in the tie. He was unable to prevent a late double, though, as David Churchill's sumptuous half-volley double Athletic's lead eight minutes from time with Greg Binnie rounding off the scoring four minutes later.

The victory was certainly deserved but it could well have been a different story had Athletic keeper Josh Blair seen red for handling outside the box midway through the second half. The officials waved away Blackburn's protests and that seemed to spark a change in momentum after the away side had threatened a leveller.

The contest started off slowly with Richie Hutton for United and Broxburn's Ross Nimmo trying their luck from distance before the deadlock was broken.

Brass was able to leap the highest at the back post to thunder a header into the net from a Josh Jeffries whipped free-kick.

As was the case in the league game between the two sides earlier in the month, Athletic enjoyed much of the play in the first half with Craig Henderson and Jeffries in particular looking a threat every time they got the ball in space. Both players would go close to doubling the advantage with Welna denying the former twice while producing a terrific save to tip a Jeffries 25-yard effort over the bar.

In that league clash, United were a changed team after the break and came back to