The Paties Road outfit went into Saturday's clash as underdogs against their higher division opponents but turned in a polished performance as goals from Lee Zavaroni and Ross Elliot either side of half time booked a trip to Penicuik Athletic in the
second round of the competition.
Newtongrange, who could yet force their way into contention for promotion to the Super League next season, were without a number of key players for the tie either through injury or because they were rested with the league being prioritised.
However, that should take nothing away from an Edinburgh side who, with a core group of young players, played attractive football and fully merited their victory.
Indeed, Star could have had few complaints had the scoreline been more emphatic than the two goals that eventually separated the clubs.
Both teams ended the clash with ten men in a game where there was hardly a bad tackle as the overly fussy referee, Mike Jasinski, flashed cards for the most trivial of offences.
Star were first to have a player ordered off when Grant Meaney was shown a straight red card with the official judging he had swung an elbow at an opponent with 26 minutes on the clock and his side trailing by a goal. And parity was restored when the Capital's only junior side also had a man sent for an early bath when Andy Christie, who was enjoying a fine game, was dismissed for a second booking with 12 minutes remaining.
The defender's ordering off didn't take the shine off the performance of Edinburgh for manager Miller, however, who is now looking for his players to add more consistency to their game.
"Results like the weekend's show you the potential that there is within the squad and, as a manager, that can be frustrating," admitted Miller.
"We've had other good results this season – we've beaten Broxburn 6-1 at home and then 4-2 away – so we've got the ability and potential to get these results but it's obvious that consistency is our problem.
"That is something that we really need to work on but hopefully that will come. On Saturday though the players did well – but there is still room for improvement.
"Newtongrange had an awful lot of the ball in the second half but I felt we had the better chances and I felt we deserved the win. We scored two very good goals and our goalkeeper only really had one save to make which I think tells the story. We worked very hard for the win.
"In recent years games between the clubs have all been very close so, although they were rightly the favourites for this game, we always felt that we could come here and win. They tend to be good games and I think the players enjoy going to Newtongrange because it's such a great set-up.
"You could see that the players enjoyed it from the way they went about the game and some of the football that they played."
Edinburgh made the breakthrough at New Victoria Park with 17 minutes on the clock and it was a strike that would have warmed the hardy band of the club's supporters who braved the dreadful weather conditions.
Christie fed the ball to Elliot down the wing and he showed a great turn of pace to skip away from his marker and hit the by-line. With goalkeeper Michael Burgess drawn to his near post the striker played an inch perfect cut back into the path of Zavaroni who calmly fired the ball into the net from 12 yards.
Star were left with a mountain to climb when Meaney was shown that straight red card and they were lucky that their afternoon didn't go from bad to worse four minutes from the interval when Zavaroni appeared to be tugged back inside the area by Keith McNicoll, although the referee waved for play to continue despite the protests of the visitors.
After the break Newtongrange enjoyed the lion's share of possession without looking as though they were ever likely to pose a serious threat to the Edinburgh goal. And Edinburgh deservedly doubled their advantage with 65 minutes played when, with Star pressing for an equaliser, they were caught on the counter.
The pace of Zavaroni saw him escape the Newtongrange defence and, although Tom Britton was able to retreat to oppose him, he quickly switched the ball to Elliot who netted his eighth goal in six games with a low drive.
Star continued to press in the closing stages of the match but never really looked as though they would find a way back into the clash even after the ordering off of Christie.
In the past Edinburgh have struggled to score goals but, in Zavaroni and Elliot, the club looks to have found a potent forward line. And Miller was quick to praise the displays of his front two.
"Lee Zavaroni is going to be a handful for most clubs because of his pace and he caused Newtongrange problems," said the former Star player.
"He sometimes doesn't use the ball carefully enough but on Saturday he did very well and made the right decisions.
"Ross Elliot is on fire at the moment and the pair of them are always going to cause problems when they play like that."
Newtongrange manager Graeme Armstrong, meanwhile, was magnanimous in defeat and admitted that Edinburgh had merited their victory.
"There was a strong wind and a very heavy pitch but we made it look even harder the way we played," said the former Stenhousemuir defender.
"You can see from Saturday that, when you take away our best players, that we still look a bit fragile and it was terrible defending for the goals that we lost. If you make mistakes you are always liable to get beat.
"We struggled in the mud but full credit to Edinburgh. They fought really hard for their victory and we've certainly no complaints. We just have to pick ourselves up now and look to do well in the league."
Newtongrange: Burgess, Buchan (Dunbar 70), Forbes (Swaney 70), McNicoll, Britton, MacNamara (Gielty 70), Manson, Thomson, Meaney, Curran, Wilson.
Sub: Affleck.
Edinburgh United: Atai, Montgomery, Campbell, Bowsher, Pullen, Christie, E McIntosh, Gillan (Ure 77), Zavaroni, Reid, Elliot.
Subs: Hart, South, S McIntosh, Black.
The full article contains 1108 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
