AFTER seeing off a very determined Hole in the Wa' challenge, Port o' Leith lifted the Edinburgh and Districts Sunday Amateur FA Premier Division League Cup with a 3-2 win after extra time at Saughton Enclosure.
The final was action-packed as five goals and a sending off were crammed in before the final whistle was blown.
Hole in the Wa' played solid football at times and they took the lead when John Hamilton poked the ball into the net after Barry Cenn
ie's initial effort was deflected and the striker was on hand to knock the ball past goalkeeper Ryan McMorran. Port retaliated by lofting balls up to the attacking trio of Paul Veitch, Robert Nesbit and Mark Moore, with all three harassing the Hole in the Wa' backline tirelessly.
The tactic worked as Nesbit hit the net at the close of the first half with a powerful shot that slipped under keeper Andrew Cennie.
Another 20 minutes passed in the second half before either side looked like scoring, but it was to be Port that forced the issue through their small winger Mark Moore,
who bundled the ball into the back of the net amid claims that he had used a hand but the referee waved away protests to make it 2-1 in favour of Port.
For the remainder of the half, Hole in the Wa's coaching staff looked desperate to get their team back into the tie, making all their substitutions in a rapid attempt to get past the solid Leith defence.
The tie was thrown back into life just as the final whistle was looming, a near-post cross by Hole in the Wa's Barry Cennie found the feet of Shaun Davidson and the small left-back drove the ball home to level the contest.
Extra-time kicked off with Port racing out of the blocks as Moore bolted down the wing to pass to Nesbit, whose volley was palmed over the bar in an outstanding save by Andrew Cennie.
Nesbit again rattled the post with another effort late into the first half of extra-time and looked like the man to break the deadlock. And it was Nesbit who got the breakthrough, firing home from the left wing after some neat dribbling skills.
The drama, however, was not over as Nesbit was called over to the referee to receive his second booking of the day for pulling his shirt off in celebration. The man of the match had to watch the rest of the game from the sidelines and hope his team could hold on to their lead. Hole in the Wa' never looked like getting back into the tie, constantly being thwarted by the courageous clearances made by central defenders Bryan Porterfield and Paul Murray.
In a last-ditch attempt to take the tie to penalties, Andrew Cennie came up for a corner and the big keeper found himself on the edge of the box with the ball at his feet only to watch his volley skim the top of the bar.
With the keeper racing back to get into position, Moore dribbled his way up the touchline only to see his effort on goal stray only a few yards wide of the target.
Soon after, the referee blew the final whistle to set off the Port o' Leith celebrations.
Hole in the Wa': Andrew Cennie, Mike Egan, Shaun Davidson, David McLeod, Calum McGeady, Brett Harington, Liam Davidson, Steven Laidlaw, Andy Hamilton, Barry Cennie, John Hamilton, Greg Wardell, Brian Davidson, Andy McGhee, Ross Cunningham, John Currie.
Port o' Leith: Ryan McMorran, Bryan Porterfield, Paul Murray, Simon Renton, Andrew Keith, Jordan Robertson, Steven Dickson, Paul Veitch, Scott Sutherland, Robert Nesbit, Alan Ormand, Colin Lawson, Mark Moore, Ged Moan, Gezim Muja, David Edman.
The full article contains 642 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
