Card luck as Whitehill crash out; EAST SENIORS HIGHLAND CHALLENGE CUP.

Byline: By DAVID KNOX 

WHITEHILL WELFARE had three players sent off as they crashed out of the SFA South RegionalCup3-1 at Lothian Thistle.

Marc Lothian put the home side 1-0 up before Andrew Kidd made it all square by half-time.

Strikers Kevin Haynes (right), Scott Gormley and Mark Ellis were all ordered off before the hour but Welfare still forced extra time.

Thistle eventually won through though as Phil O'Neill notched a double to send his side into the quarter-finals.

Easthouses Lily also progressed after John Hunter netted the only goal in just 30 seconds to dump Selkirk, who had Michael Mair red carded.

Edinburgh City cruised through with a fine 3-1 win over in-form Gretna at Everholm while Stewart Miller's goal sealed a 1-0 triumph for Preston Athletic over Civil Service Strollers at Pennypit Park.

Threave needed extra time to see off Kelso 4-1 and Stirling University edged a thriller at Craigroyston 5-3.

Edinburgh University scraped through 4-2 on penalties after a 2-2 draw against St Cuthbert's.

Spartans also won on spot-kicks against Dalbeattie Star following a 1-1 draw.

Daryl Devlin hit the decisive penalty in a 5-4 shootout win.

In the Premier League, Steven Burns hit a hat-trick as Coldstream thumped Peebles 6-1. First Division leaders Gala Fairydean lost 2-1 at Ormiston, Eyemouth triumphed 4-1 at Hawick and Tynecastle downed Leith Athletic 2-1.