An extremely disappointing result for The Jags on Saturday as they were unable to break down a determined Oakley side who played the second half with ten men.
The Jags were desperately unlucky not to take something from this game striking the woodwork twice and dominating possession.
Dalkeith had the first effort on goal when David Morris saw his thunderous shot from 20 yards clip the crossbar after just five minutes.
Despite their lively start The Jags found themselves behind on 11 minutes when Charlie Scarborough found space in the six yard box and saw his scuffed effort bobble past Kesson in the Dalkeith goal.
Spurred on by this setback the Jags should have equalised on 15 minutes when Darren Flynn latched onto a through ball and rounded Burgess in the Oakley goal, however the striker delayed his shot and his effort was cleared on the goal line by an Oakley defender.
With the exception of a Jay Hunter shot which was tipped over the bar by Burgess the rest of the half was devoid of any chances, however, with 2 minutes of the half remaining it burst back into life when Oakley were reduced to ten men when Kevin Murray was on the receiving end of reckless and late tackle. Deep into stoppage time Darren Flynn was again thwarted by the feet of Burgess and Paterson saw his follow up header gathered by the keeper.
Kevin Murray was unable to continue and was replaced by Sean Lally at the start of the second half and the midfielder came within inches of restoring parity when he blasted an effort off the underside of the crossbar from six yards out on the hour mark.
The Jags huffed and puffed as they dominated second half possession with the home side content to sit in with everyone behind the ball – a tactic that paid off as The Jags went home empty handed.
Dalkeith: Kesson, Gavin, Paterson, Hunter, Liddle, Linton, Murray, Morris, Flynn, Haynes, Pusledzki. Subs: McNaughton, Lally, Taylor, Watters, Combe.
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