The History of Newtongrange Star
1976/77
DRYBOROUGH CUP WINNERS & 'B' DIVISION CHAMPIONS
Back: W. Kidd, J. Pryde, E. Davidson, J. Ball, T. Cropley, C. Wood, D. Dick.
Front: D. Small, M. Leetion, J. Logan, A. McLeod, A. Reid, G. Neilson.
STORY OF THE SEASON
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    The Star's second attempt at the early season League Cup was to prove a bit more successful as the team won all four matches to progress as resounding group winners. Broxburn Athletic were defeated in the quarter-final after a replay and single goal from Neilson accounted for Camelon in the semi-final before the Star met Linlithgow Rose in the final at Brockville Park, Falkirk. The match ended 1-1 with Eric Davidson scoring for the Star. In the replay at Newbyres Park, Linlithgow Rose won 4-1.

    The Scottish Junior Cup adventure was to be short-lived as the Star were eliminated in the first round 2-0 at Westfield Park, home of Carnoustie Panmure.

    In addition to the League Cup, the Star also managed to reach three other cup finals.

    The run to the Brown Cup final was quite an achievement as the team were drawn away from home in every round against A Division opposition yet won all the matches without conceding a single goal. Victory in the final would have been a fitting conclusion, but fellow B Division side Camelon managed to breach the Star's resilient defence once to take the cup.

    The Dryborough Cup was to provide a match happier outcome though. The Star met local rivals Bonnyrigg Rose in the final at Olivebank, Musselburgh. In a close match only a solitary goal by Eric Davidson managed to separate the teams, but in the end the cup was heading back to Victoria Park.

    The league was to provide further silverware. Granted the Star were in the B Division, but with only two promotion places this time, there would certainly be a more competitive season ahead. The Star though managed to win the league with a few points to spare and recorded some notable high-scoring wins against Bonnybridge (6-0), Grangemouth Rovers (7-0) and Pumpherston (9-1 & 7-1).

    The fourth cup final the Star competed in was the end of season Haddows Silver Jubilee Cup. This was a tournament for the winners of the leagues in the Ayrshire, Central and East Regions and was organised alongside the celebrations for The Queen's Silver Jubilee. Kirkintilloch Rob Roy were the Star's opponents in the final at Somervell Park, Cambuslang and despite a goal from Jazzy Pryde, the Star went down to a 3-1 defeat.

    Source: The History of Newtongrange Star FC [2010]
EAST REGION 'B' DIVISION
Pld W D L F A GD Pts
Newtongrange Star 22 17 0 5 34
Camelon Juniors 22 15 1 6 31
Tranent Juniors 22 13 4 5 30
Fauldhouse United 22 13 4 5 30
Whitburn Juniors 22 11 6 5 28
Dalkeith Thistle 22 11 5 6 27
Haddington Athletic 22 10 3 9 23
Musselburgh Athletic 22 7 4 11 18
West Calder United 22 5 3 14 13
Grangemouth Rovers 22 6 1 15 13
Pumpherston Juniors* 22 4 2 16 10
Bonnybridge Juniors 22 3 1 18 7
Relegated from 'A' Division: Dunbar United
Bathgate Thistle
Polkemmet Juniors
Promoted to 'A' Division: Newtongrange Star
Camelon Juniors
Tranent Juniors
* Pumpherston Juniors withdrew from the league after 11 games. 2 points were awarded to unplayed opponents.
Opponents Venue F A Scorers Team Info
Bonnybridge Juniors H
A 6 0 ?
Camelon Juniors H
A
Dalkeith Thistle H 4 1 Pryde, Neilson, Logan, Davidson
A 3 0 ?
Fauldhouse United H 1 2 Davidson
A 3 1 ?
Grangemouth Rovers H 7 0 ?
A 1 0 Dixon
Haddington Athletic H 2 3 Logan, Neilson
A 3 0 ?
Musselburgh Athletic H 2 2 Pryde, Reid
A 3 2 Pryde, Reid, OG
Pumpherston Juniors H 9 1 Duthie 3, Reid 2, Pryde, Small, Davidson, McLeod Ball, Russell, Dick, Cropley, Begbie, McLeod, Small, Kidd, Duthie, Pryde, Neilson. Subs: Davidson, Reid.
A 7 1 Duthie 4, Logan, Russell, Reid
Tranent Juniors H 3 1 ?
A 1 0 ?
West Calder United H 3 1 Small 2, Davidson
A 4 1 Davidson 2, Small, Pryde
Whitburn Juniors H 3 2 ?
A 1 2 ?
SCOTTISH JUNIOR CUP
Round Venue Opponents F A PenF PenA Scorers Team Info
1 A Carnoustie Panmure 0 2
FIFE & LOTHIANS CUP
Round Venue Opponents F A PenF PenA Scorers Team Info
1 A Bonnyrigg Rose 1 2 ?
DRYBOROUGH CUP
Round Venue Opponents F A PenF PenA Scorers Team Info
1 H Camelon Juniors 1 1 Davidson Ball, Russell, Dick, Logan, McLeod, Davidson, Duthie, Pryde, Neilson, ?. Subs: Wood, Cropley.
A Camelon Juniors 4 2 Kidd, Pryde, Davidson, OG
2 H Whitburn Juniors 3 1 McLeod, Small, Reid
QF H Fauldhouse United 2 0 Dick, Davidson Ball, Dick, Kidd, Cropley, Logan, Leetion, Small, Reid, Duthie, Pryde, McLeod. Subs: Neilson, Wood.
SF A Dunbar United 3 0 Pryde, Logan, ?
F N Bonnyrigg Rose 1 0 Davidson Ball, Kidd, Dick, Cropley, Logan, Leetion, Small, Reid, Davidson, Pryde, McLeod. Subs: Neilson, Wood.
Match Report
    THE ROSE FAIL TO BLOSSOM
    Advertiser

    The meeting of these local rivals and leaders of their respective league division failed to produce the thrills expected in the final of the Dryborough Cup final at Olive Bank, Musselburgh on Saturday.

    The Star were contesting their third successive final appearance in the tournament having won the first final and losing the trophy last season.

    The Star opened strongly, a Kidd overlapping run looking dangerous until he was fouled by Alexander but the resultant free proved unproductive.

    Okay raged quickly from goal to goal but the respective defences were mainly on top.

    The Rose came near when Devlin headed over from a corner kick while at the other and a snap McLeod drive brought out a fine Sinclair save at the foot of the post.

    Both sides were engaging in somewhat robust tackling and fouls were frequent but the interval came without an opening goal.

    Play in the second period continued with petty fouling by both sides and neither goalkeeper was seriously troubled.

    A draw looked a likely result until five minutes from time the stalemate was broken when Davidson notched the all-important winning goal to give the Star custody of the trophy for the second time in three years and equalled Tranent Juniors’ record of winning the East’s major trophy for the seventh time in the 80 years’ history of the tournament.

    Teams:
    Newtongrange Star: Ball, Kidd, Dick, Cropley, Logan, Leetion, Small, Reid, Davidson, Pryde, McLeod. Subs: Neilson, Wood.
    Bonnyrigg Rose: Sinclair, Bertram, Henderson, Aitchison, Devlin, Reid, Buckley, Henry, Shiels, McQueen, Alexander. Subs: Eadie, Taylor.

    Ref: A. Waddell (Edinburgh)
BROWN CUP
Round Venue Opponents F A PenF PenA Scorers Team Info
1 A Arniston Rangers 3 0 Flynn, Duthie, Pryde
2 A Broxburn Athletic 3 0 ?
QF A Linlithgow Rose 2 0 ? Ball, Russell, Dick, Cropley, Logan, Leetion, Small, Reid, Duthie, Pryde, McLeod. Subs: Neilson, Wood.
SF A Bo'ness United 3 0 Pryde 2, McLeod
F N Camelon Juniors 0 1
LEAGUE CUP
Pld W D L F A GD Pts
Newtongrange Star 4 4 0 0 11 4 +7 8
Arniston Rangers 4 1 0 3 4 8 -4 2
Dalkeith Thistle 4 1 0 3 6 9 -3 2
Opponents Venue F A Scorers Team Info
Arniston Rangers H 2 1 ?
A 2 1 Neilson 2
Dalkeith Thistle H 3 2 Flynn, Davidson, ?
A 4 0 Pryde 2, Neilson, Small McDonald, Kidd, Russell, Logan, Begbie, Dick, Small, McLeod, McLean, Pryde, Neilson. Subs: Dixon, Leetion.
Round Venue Opponents F A PenF PenA Scorers Team Info
QF H Broxburn Athletic 3 3 Small, Flynn, Begbie
A Broxburn Athletic 2 1 Reid, Davidson McDonald, Kidd, Dick, Logan, Begbie, Leetion, Small, Reid, Davidson, Pryde, Neilson. Subs: Flynn, Wood.
SF N Camelon Juniors 1 0 Neilson
F N Linlithgow Rose 1 1 Davidson
N Linlithgow Rose 1 4 Wood
HADDOWS SILVER JUBILEE CUP
Round Venue Opponents F A PenF PenA Scorers Team Info
QF H Glasgow Perthshire 2 1 Neilson 2 AET
SF N Shotts Bon Accord 1 1 4 2 Davidson
F N Kirkintilloch Rob Roy 1 3 Pryde
SQUAD
  • Robert Hogg
  • John Ball
  • Kenneth Russell
  • George McGauley
  • Walter Kidd
  • Jim Begbie
  • Edward Carnegie
  • Alan Liddle
  • Mark Leetion
  • James Logan
  • Colin Wood
  • Allan McLeod
  • Thomas Cropley
  • Eric Davidson
  • James Pryde
  • David Dick
  • Charles Murphy
  • Ian Fairley
  • George Dixon
  • Thomas Docherty
  • George Neilson
  • David Small
  • Alan Reid