THE under-13 AC Taxis Cup semi-final between Easthouses and Joppa United at the Mayfield Complex saw the home side outplay their opponents from Edinburgh in a 9-0 win.
His team may have lost, but no boy was criticised by Joppa coach Cameron Lovie, who said: "They all tried their best. There is no criticism of any player. This is our first season in the South East Region Youth Leagues and we are still finding our
way."
Dean Johnston was a star in the home ranks and it was he who opened the scoring for Easthouses with a rocket of a shot from outside the 18-yard box.
Most of the play in the first half took place in the Joppa end but they still managed to break away on a few occasions with Declan Knox prominent in good runs at the home goal. After good play on the right by Ryan Borland, the ball was delivered into the Joppa goalmouth and it was big Dylan Gould who blasted home the second goal for Easthouses.
Jordan Gibson made it 3-0 after some good football on the right flank from Connor Dyet.
Borland set up Jack Irvine to score Easthouses' fourth goal of the game as the non-stop attacks on the Joppa defence took its toll. Dyet again carved open the Joppa defence and he laid the ball perfectly across goal for Borland to put it into the net, but the ball bobbled and the Easthouses No.6 missed his chance.
Knox, meanwhile, had a couple of magnificent runs at the Easthouses goal and he was denied by a brilliant save from home keeper Blair McInnes. That was followed by more good play from Knox and he set up Ross Ferguson to have a crack at the Easthouses goal, but the shot went wide.
It was still 4-0 at the half-way stage and that was a credit to the visitors as they were under almost constant pressure throughout the first half. On the restart, the Joppa coach encouraged his players even more and it took a good interception from Cameron Auld to halt another run by Knox.
But Easthouses were just a better team and they showed great passing ability in a move that involved Johnston and Borland, leaving Irvine in a one-to-one with Aitchison, but the big goalie was relieved to see the ball go over the bar. The Joppa defence was breached again soon after and it was Borland who took the score to 5-0 for Easthouses.
The visitors struggled to contain the quick-moving home attack and they lost another goal when Irvine managed to get the ball into the Joppa net after two wonderful blocks by Aitchison.
That made it 6-0 for the ecstatic home outfit, but the visitors' agony continued with further goals from Ryan Westen (2) and Dyet who scored the ninth goal of the game in the closing minutes. Joppa, to their eternal credit, never stopped trying with Knox their most accomplished player on the day. The good attitude and behaviour of the Joppa players was something for them to be proud of, despite suffering such a heavy defeat. The Mayfield complex was busy with small-sided games and in an under-12 Development League clash, Easthouses beat Loanhead 8-4.
Meanwhile, all user clubs at the Mayfield Complex have, apparently, received letters inviting applications to take over the let to the facility. The club that gets the lease to the building would also have to maintain the place.
Easthouses: Blair McInnes, Cameron Auld, Connor Dyet, Dylan Gould, Michael Kierzkoski; Ryan Borland, Jack Irvine, Dean Johnston, Jonathan Harding, Jordan Gibson, Ryan Westen, Keane Shaw, Charlie Carter.
Joppa United: Matthew Aitchison, Noel Davidson, Scott Morrison, Ben Lovie, Declan Knox. Rakhime Malik, Kyle Hall, Harry Wanless, Alex Wilson, Jack Kidney, Rory Gallacher, Hugh Brown, Ross Ferguson.
Referee: Scott Gilchrist.
The full article contains 659 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
