LINKS United's long-serving and dedicated official, Willie Randall, was one of the proudest and most emotional people at Livingston's Almondvale Stadium after seeing the club he has served so faithfully over the years win their first major piece of silverware when beating Slammanan 1-0 in the Planet Bathroom East of Scotland Amateur Cup final after a tremendous second-half display.
What a fitting reward this was for the quiet man of the Links United club.
He said: "Winning the East of Scotland Amateur Cup is all the more remarkable, given that we struggled to put a team on the park no less than three seasons ago."
United
certainly had a magnificent team on the park this time, urged on by the non-stop instructions and support from their animated coach, Steve Osborne, from the touchlines.
It is doubtful if there is a more involved coach of a football team than Osborne and he was on the pitch at the end of the game with his son, Harry, to celebrate his club's major success.
He said: "We did not play well in the first half but we were much better after the break and we should have scored three or four goals. We created the chances, but we only managed to score one goal. That was enough."
The Edinburgh side that play in the Caledonian Amateur League were forced to defend for long spells in the first half, with the Stirlingshire outfit very unlucky not to go ahead from several good chances.
But United's veteran goal-keeper, Andy Ritchie, was absolutely magnificent in denying Slammanan a goal with brilliant saves and brave blocks of net-bound shots.
Ritchie was floored twice when he was challenged for high balls in his goalmouth and the Stirlingshire side missed their best chance of the game when the Links veteran was lying on the ground after one goalmouth challenge.
With the ball running free and no whistle from the excellent match referee, Campbell Duncan, it looked certain Slammanan would score but the weak shot at goal was cleared off the line to the amazement and frustration in equal measures of both sets of fans.
Links survived wave after wave of Slammanan attacks and, with Ritchie performing heroics in goal and their defence standing firm, they were able to ensure the match was goalless at half-time.
But the Capital team started the second half in glorious fashion, and, within three minutes of the restart, they went ahead with a wonderful goal.
Ryan Dignan showed a lovely first touch to control a ball on the left touchline before setting off towards goal. He left a couple of defenders in his wake as he cut in to deliver a superbly-placed low shot into the far corner of the net, leaving Slammanan keeper Gareth Griffiths helpless. United went on to dominate play for most of the second half with Slammanan never regaining the initiative.
After his heroics in the first 45 minutes, Ritchie was more of a spectator in the second stage of the game, although he remained alert to clear up a couple of dangerous attacks on his goal.
But most of the action was at the other end and Links set up chance after chance with Jordan Leishman and Paul Roberts conspicuous in raids on the Slammanan goal.
It was a great night, again, for a Capital football club and United's win is a further example of the quality of football that is currently being played among the top sides in amateur football. Slammanan looked a very good side, too, and they may well consider they missed their chance to lift the trophy in the goalless first half but Ritchie had a game to remember and he played a massive part in ensuring Slammanan fired blanks throughout the game.
Links United: Andy Ritchie, Stuart Fenwick, Thomas Wylie, Stewart Seigal, Enzo Vettorato, Alan Brownlie, Andrew Barker, Jason Wilson, Jordan Leishman, Paul Roberts, Ryan Dignan, Paul Ayton, Michael Easter, John Googan, Neil Martin, Gavin Frizzell.
Slammanan: Gareth Griffiths, James Meikle, Kyle Love, Ryan Stevenson, Graeme Whyte, Stewart Stevenson, Steven Ferguson, David Wallace, Scott Laing, James Kerr, Mark Penman, Gordon Kirkland, Ross McClenaghan, Steve McKee, Blair Lightbody, Gordon Kidd.
Referee: Campbell Duncan.
The full article contains 716 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
