THE image of amateur football took a bit of a pasting in the Logan Cup semi-final between Uphall Station and Lochend, with players and a female spectator involved in a fracas on the pitch.
The game simmered from the start and exploded at the finish.
The signs of what was to come were apparent from referee Dean Kay's opening whistle.
The match official did everything possible to defuse any explosive incidents and there were many
of these.
The Logan Cup is one of the oldest trophies in amateur football and, at the end of the game, Premier Division leaders Uphall emerged 5-2 winners.
But a couple of their goals were controversial and stoked up the aggrieved feeling that caused many of the disciplinary problems.
The opening stages at Saughton Enclosure were brisk and it was Lochend's Andy Coventry who was the busier keeper.
The West Lothian side opened the scoring in the eighth minute when Scott Clark netted with a great shot past Coventry into the far corner.
Scot Coventry then went on a great run at the Uphall goal but he was crowded out by sheer force of numbers in an untidy goalmouth scramble – and that incident sparked off the first of many bookings.
This fiercely-contested game was all square in the 17th minute, when Coventry swept a great ball in from the right past David Miller to make it 1-1.
Uphall went back ahead through Lee Cruickshanks, who looked to be offside.
That goal clearly upset several of the Lochend contingent and, with their concentration lapsed, it was soon 3-1 when Paul McHugh scored.
In the 76th minute, Clark increase Uphall's lead to 4-1 with a great goal and that should have wrapped it up for the West Lothian side. But Lochend reduced the deficit to 4-2 three minutes later with a fantastic goal from a Jason McCrindle free-kick.
The most bizarre goal of the game came from George McGregor. Mr Kay awarded yet another free-kick to Uphall and that was followed by a mass of players shouting, swearing and pushing.
McGregor, meanwhile, saw the Lochend goal gaping and promptly sent the free-kick into the back of the net from fully 40 yards to make it 5-2. Lochend, to put it mildly, were most displeased at what they saw as another injustice.
The final whistle, thankfully, went shortly after.
The full article contains 409 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
