ENTERTAINMENT can come from the most unlikely of sources, so proved the under-15 Treasurer's Cup final between unsung lower division sides Leith Athletic 93 and Edinburgh South Colts in a ten-goal thriller at the Gyle Recreation Ground.
In the 41st final of the Eastern Region Football season, Leith, who finished mid-table in Division 3, won 6-4 against South, who narrowly missed out on promotion from Division 4, in the type of classic free-scoring final that, more often than not, th
e more illustrious youth teams in Edinburgh fail to generate.
There was no shortage of skill on display either, as South's Liam McArdle and Declan Mutch rose to the occasion to turn in sterling personal displays.
A frantic opening 19 minutes bore witness to an incredible five-goal spree, South assuming the advantage amid the mayhem.
McArdle, the South winger of precocious skill and admirable close control, crossed from the left wing on ten minutes for Mark Holmes to thump the ball into the bottom right-hand corner of Ross Parker-Knowles's goal after ten minutes.
Less than 60 seconds later at the other end, though, striker Ethan Smith drew Leith level, taking advantage of a defence posted missing by shooting low past Watson from ten yards out.
Within five minutes, Leith turned the game on its head. Mark Kelly skewed his shot at goal, but the ball landed at the feet of Lewis Connolly, who chipped goalkeeper Watson, and Jack Nicol raced in to blast home from close range.
Such was the see-saw nature of the game, though, that a minute later South were right back in it with a well-taken equaliser.
Darren Kane's cross from the right evaded the defence and the goalkeeper Parker-Knowles, and Mutch timed his run perfectly to execute a far-post header and equalise. Mutch was on fire, and set the game alight with a superb individual effort on 19 minutes, breezing through the defence and past the goalkeeper before walking the ball into the net.
In possibly the game's only fluent forward move that failed to produce a goal, South's attacking trio of McArdle, Kane and Mutch combined well before the latter's shot with the outside of his right boot struck the crossbar.
Leith, inevitably, stormed up the field immediately and equalised, Connolly with an easy finish past Watson from ten yards. Athletic lost their goalkeeper Parker-Knowles to injury early in the second half, and he was to be replaced by the crocked Jamie Tompkinson, who had started the game in midfield but was the only player on the bench for the Black and Whites.
South took immediate advantage of Tompkinson's obvious discomfort in goal, scoring their fourth and going ahead on 54 minutes when McArdle rifled a spectacular volley low into net.
This spurred Leith on to a rousing comeback with three goals in 20 minutes.
Firstly, on 60 minutes, Smith forced his way through the defence and the goalkeeper before converting an easy chance.
Then, on 68 minutes, in bizarre circumstances, Leith were awarded a penalty to give them the chance to go in front for the second time in the game.
A South defender inexplicably picked up the ball with his hands in the penalty area as the ball ricocheted around the box following a corner. Kelly confidently dispatched the spot-kick to bring the score to 5-4.
South rallied valiantly towards the end, but it was their higher division opponents who rounded off the scoring to make it 6-4 on 80 minutes when Jay Norris nipped in front of defender Charlie Craig as the ball was crossed into the South penalty area, and the Leith attacker finished emphatically from the left-hand side of the six-yard box.
Keith Churchmichael, the Leith coach, revealed that the cup win signalled their final game under the club name. "I thought the game was excellent and it could've gone either way. Thankfully, we turned up, but Edinburgh South are a good side, although they're from a division lower.
"We had a terrible start to the season this year, and at one point I thought we were going to be relegated, but the boys rallied and have done well.
"Unfortunately, though, this is the end of Leith Athletic 93, after four or five seasons.
"I'm hoping to form a new team, Portobello FC, as most of the players we have are from that area anyway."
Leith Athletic 93: Ross Parker-Knowles, Paul Lawrie, Dale Churchmichael, David McIntosh, Mark Kelly, Lewis Connolly, Ethan Smith, Jamie Tompkinson, Jack Nicol, Jay Norris, Peter Lomax, Liam McNeil,
Edinburgh South Colts: Thomas Watson, Michael Hay, James King, Charlie Craig, Connor Ross, Kevin Darling, Liam McArdle, Michael Devers, Mark Holmes, Declan Mutch, Darren Kane, John McCallum, Jason Hislen, Jordan Edwards.
