A 20-MINUTE hat-trick from Leith Athletic hero Jack Combe put North Merchiston to the sword, and helped his side clinch the under-17 Michael Moran League Cup at Paties Road.
Combe's three goals in the opening quarter of the game w ere enough to see off Merchi, who could only reply with a 44th-minute consolation goal from Michael Higgins.
Leith didn't take long to get going, firing themselves ahead after just five m
inutes.
Some good passing play in the middle preceded a brilliant through ball into the path of Combe, who used his pace to beat the keeper to the ball and slot in for his first goal. And the Leith striker wasn't finished there. He proved a real handful for the Merchi defence in the opening minutes, and only a fool would have bet against him scoring another. When Leith were awarded a penalty on 15 minutes, Combe was the only man to take it, smashing in a brilliant spot-kick that was simply too powerful for Merchi goalkeeper Adam Strickland.
And, a couple of minutes later his hat-trick was complete. Team-mate Stephen Barrie went on an excellent run down the right-hand side of the pitch, before firing a low ball into the box.
With the cross heading for the top corner, Merchi keeper Strickland parried the ball away, only for it to fall to the instinctive Combe, who bundled the ball in to make it 3-0 to Athletic.
It was an unbelievable start to the match for Athletic, who had come out of the blocks and blown Merchiston away with their fluent and concise passing. And Combe's early goal tally spoke for itself about the way the striker was performing.
However, it was at about the half-hour mark that Athletic started to stand back and sit on their lead – a tactic that would see them punished – with Merchi relieved the early onslaught had been arrested. On 35 minutes, Merchi striker Calum Murray had a good run into the box before crossing in to Steven Aitken, who brought a difficult ball down and fired high at goal.
However, Leith goalie Mark Tait showed great reactions to jump and tip the ball over.
Merchi would finally get a stroke of luck just before half-time thanks to some good finishing from Michael Higgins.
A free-kick was swung over from Scott Brady, and Higgins did well to trap the ball and thump it into the net.
After the start of the second half, Merchi still looked the more likely to score.
Leith appeared quite content with their two-goal lead, but that lead could have been halved on 48 minutes when Steven Aitken found himself in a great position in the box. The striker, though, seemed to rush his shot and could only hit a tame effort straight at Leith keeper Tait.
As the game went on, it looked as though Merchi were becoming frustrated at Leith's defensive tactics, but Leith were still a danger on the counter-attack, and they came close to going 4-1 up on 65 minutes.
Barrie ran on to an intelligent through ball and took a couple of touches before slotting it under Merchi keeper Strickland and into the goal. However, as Barrie and his team-mates celebrated the linesman was waving his flag for offside and the score was back to 3-1. In the final 20 minutes, the game was being played out in the middle of the park with neither side really threatening to score.
The only real chance before full-time came through some great play on the wing from Aitken, who by this stage was growing into the game and showing some great touches. Aitken went past several defenders before dinking a great ball to Murray in the box, who then passed through to Higgins, but the ball was just too fast for the Merchi forward and Leith Athletic were assured of a memorable cup win.
North Merchiston: Adam Strickland, Ross McCulloch, Chris Taylor, Michael Higgins, Andrew Williamson, Scott McBeath, Scott Brady, Neil Smeaton, Calum Murray, Josh Kinnear, Steven Aitken, Kerr Rourke, Ryan Smith, Neil Gallagher, Clark Currie.
Leith Athletic: Antony Marziban, Christopher Barrie, Darren Lavery, George Gibson, Jack Combe, James Robson, Jamie Burstow, Jason Stevens, Johnny Coleman, Liam Rafferty, Mark Tait, Michael Lynch, Neil Lawson, Scott Sime, Stephen Barrie, Steven Dignan, Steven Philp, Stuart Lord.
The full article contains 742 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
