SPARTANS said farewell to City Park, their home for the past 32 years, when they beat Edinburgh City 4-2 in the semi-final of the King Cup last night.
It was fitting that the last senior football match to be played at the ground was against Edinburgh City, who were based at the ground from 1935 to 1955.
However, Spartans, who will move to their new 2700-capacity stadium at Ainslie Park in
time for next season, were in no mood to let nostalgia halt their progress to the final although they had to come from behind on two occasions.
It took City only five minutes to take the lead when Karim Ksia burst through on the right and thundered home an unstoppable low shot from 20 yards.
City's lead was cancelled out only a few minutes later when Ross Campbell lobbed City goalkeeper Stuart Hogarth from the edge of the penalty box.
City edged themselves in front when a Ross Macnamara cross picked out the unmarked Robbie Ross, who powered an eight-yard header into the roof of the net.
Spartans equalised ten minutes after the break when substitute Kenny Young scampered down the left and his cross found the head of the diving Omar Kader, who netted from six yards.
Jordan Caddow then hit the Spartans crossbar with a 30-yard dipping volley but the game was effectively killed off in the 73rd minute. A superb strike from Ross Archibald was handled on the goal line by City defender John Hall. Although the ball landed in the net referee Paul Reid awarded a penalty to Spartans and sent Hall off with a straight red card. Ross Campbell netted the spot-kick.
It was an uphill battle for City and they conceded another goal in a goalmouth melee when Kader poked the ball over the line from close range.
Sam Lynch, Spartans joint manager, said: "City dictated play in the first half where they were better in the middle of the park. It took us a while to turn the tables but I thought that overall we deserved to win and it was nice to finish on a high at City Park."
Spartans: Brown, Archibald, Fowlie, Gerrard, Seeley, Kader, King (Young 46), Campbell, Motion (O'Donnell 46), Noon (Smith 85), Henretty.
Subs: McLeod, Forbes.
Edinburgh City: Hogarth, John Hall, Gair, Macnamara, Morrison, Jordan Hall, Caddow, Speed (Calladine 90), Ross, Ksia (Stenhouse 81), Denholm (Guthrie 66).
Sub: Monteith.
IN the other semi-final, First Division side Vale of Leithen upset their Premier Division opponents, Lothian Thistle, with a 2-1 victory at the Civil Service Sports Ground. Greg Shortreed gave Vale the lead with a header before Phil O'Neill equalised, also with a header. The winner was a cracking 20-yard volley from Aaron Somerville.
The full article contains 472 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
