A SENSATIONAL trophy treble was secured by Oxgangs in the David Temple Memorial Cup Final victory over Currie, after they netted the winner in a 2-1 triumph five minutes from time at Saughton Enclosure.
A fraught opening period failed to see any decisive pressure from either team. It did help to shine the spotlight on Currie's effervescent Michael South, but he failed to link with his team-mates to make any decisive opportunities early on.
A clea
r-cut chance was handed to Oxgangs when the Currie defence pushed forward from a corner but allowed strikers Stewart Henderson and Ross Forrest to link up. However Henderson, after being played through yards from goal, pulled his final effort wide of the near post.
Minutes later a quickly taken short corner sucked in an off-guard Currie and a deep floated cross to the far corner of the penalty box found Scott Thomson, but the ball didn't drop soon enough for the rangy midfielder to strike cleanly and it was headed off the line at the back post.
Confusion at Oxgang's backline just before the interval allowed the deadlock to be broken when Currie striker Carlo Cennerazzo hounded a seemingly lost cause into the Oxgangs penalty box. Defender Brian Baillie attempted to head the ball into the safety of Les McNair's gloves, but his -keeper was already coming to claim the ball himself and saw it loop agonisingly over his gloves. Cennerazzo chased the ball before it went out for a corner kick and had the coolness to turn back inside, and slot home from the narrow angle.
Currie elected to change tactics at the interval with a midfield substitution and with the game finely poised both teams were in position for kick-off before the officials had even re-emerged from the dressing rooms.
The second period began as frantically as the first half ended, with Oxgangs forcing themselves into the opposition half thanks to Thomson's strong wing play. Their equaliser, however, came from a similar chase which had handed Currie their initial advantage.
Front man Forrest gambled with a narrowly onside run to seize a through ball before hurdling a penalty box challenge. He didn't need any assistance from Currie stoppers before tidily finishing into the bottom corner.
Currie quickly returned pressure, pinning Oxgangs back with some searching long balls. But it was Oxgangs midfield playmaker Jamie Wishart who allowed his team to use their possession most effectively.
It was one of these fine uses of possession which saw Oxgangs seal victory, just as the medals and trophies were being laid out to glimmer in the sun.
Substitute Thomas Campbell latched onto a fierce diagonal ball at the corner of the danger area before smashing a drive across the face of the goalmouth and into the net.
Oxgangs will face off against Currie next season after winning promotion to the top flight after proud manager Tam Finnen ended a trophy drought of 15 long years, 11 of which were endured by current Captain Chris Kenny, in unprecedented style.
Oxgangs: Les McNair, Gary Walker, Ryan Johnston, John Beebie, Paul Cameron, Ainslie Hunter, Jamie Wishart, Chris Kenny, Stewart Henderson, Graeme Finnen, Scott Thomson, Jamie Finnen, Ross Forrest, Matt Gordon, Brian Baillie, Thomas Campbell.
Currie: Gordon Falconer, Allan McGinty, Craig Cockburn, David Anderson, Gary McArthur, John Kelly, David Hayward, Michael South, Carlo Cennerazzo, Chris Greig, Marcin Kosakowski, Dean Robertson, Ian Giatti, Blair Henderson.
The full article contains 582 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
