Peebles Rovers 0 Hawick Royal Albert 1
This East of Scotland League Qualifying Cup encounter began in bright sunshine and finished in torrential rain.
As far as Hawick Royal Albert were concerned however the sun was out when the whistle went to end the game.
For thanks to a last gasp goal and going by last season’s results and performances the Hawick outfit had pulled off an unexpected win.
The game opened at a lively pace with both teams looking adventurous and passing the ball about well.
Apart from Rovers Chris Taylor rifling a Jason Darling pass wide and Hawick defender Mark McEwan robbing Shaun Meikle of a scoring opportunity with a spot on timely tackle, there were few goalmouth incidents.
Sam Campbell then almost broke the deadlock for the visitors when heading a Craig Robertson cross past the post.
Rovers replied with a well struck Darling free kick that dipped narrowly over the bar.
Play remained even and lively and after latching onto a Gavin Pettigrew pass, Craig Robertson unleashed a shot that looked a goal all the way until Peebles keeper Darren Walker had a say in matters in pulling off a superb fingertip save.
Back came Peebles and Robert Boyd came to Albert’s aid in clearing a Scott Sutherland header off the line from a Kenny Munro free kick.
Hawick keeper Kyle Rankin then denied Rovers a strike with a save right out of the top drawer when pushing a thundering Taylor drive over the bar.
Neither outfit was looking for a draw but a sharing of the points appeared destined until the Albert dramatically broke the deadlock with two minutes remaining.
In a packed goalmouth substitute Bobby Nwanze drove in a shot which was cleared by Jonathon Flockhart.
This brought about a stramash which ended in Ryan cutting the ball to the feet of Boyd who slotted a shot into the net.