PERHAPS the soggy New Countess Park pitch dictated that there was little room for fancy football, but there was no substitute for the tenacity and doggedness of Leith Athletic in the face of Fauldhouse flair in the final of the City Financial Edinburgh South East Region Under-16 Cup.
Leith surmounted the obstacle of the West Lothian side despite going a goal behind early on, scoring two in quick succession either side of half-time and stifling their opponents' attacks to triumph 2-1 at Dunbar.
Fauldhouse unquestionably played
in a manner more pleasing on the eye, their wingers Fraser Keast and David Swan forming a potent attack. Indeed, the two combined after just five minutes to open the scoring in style.
Swan's low cross from the right wing found Keast and, after his first effort was saved by keeper Andy Haggon, the Fauldhouse striker netted the rebound.
Billy Brown almost doubled the Fauldhouse lead two minutes later, but his free-kick knocked the top of the crossbar of Haggon's goal and drifted over.
Haggon spilled the ball under close attention from Fauldhouse forward Craig Pimbley on 36 minutes, but the No.9 failed to capitalise on the mistake, turning to send his shot thumping off the right-hand post.
Billy Hutchison again threatened Haggon's goal with a sizzling strike from 25 yards that flew just wide of the right-hand post on 36 minutes, and Fauldhouse were left to rue these missed opportunities as Leith, with their first clear shot on goal, equalised on the stroke of half-time.
Captain Bobe Boyd sent a low cross into the box, and Neil Watson sprinted in front of his marker to meet the ball with a side-foot finish, putting the ball beyond keeper Ryan Fagan to level the score.
A feisty, physical battle was settled shortly after the interval with Leith scoring what proved to be the winning goal. Keith Mason met a cross from the left at the far post and dispatched a well-placed header back across goal, past Fagan and into the left-hand corner.
Leith resolutely defended their lead despite constant Fauldhouse pressure for the remaining 40 minutes, averting a series of attacks on Haggon's goal through a combination of well-timed tackling and their opponents' poor finishing.
Keast blazed a path to goal via the inside-left channel on 55 minutes, but Athletic defender Blair Simpson executed the most satisfyingly all-consuming challenge he could have wished to make, taking the ball cleanly and denying the twinkle-toed wide man a shot at goal.
Keast, though, was determined to find the net, and tried his luck again five minutes later with a long-range strike. With great technique, he lashed the ball at Haggon's goal, but his shot hit the crossbar and bounced in front of the line with the goalie beaten.
Leith then had Michael White to thank for maintaining their slender lead with just ten minutes to go as the defender took a leaf out of Simpson's book of tackling.
Fauldhouses's Brown swept an incisive pass from the left wing into the path of Ben Taylor in the penalty area, but White (mistakenly named in a recent Evening News Trophy report as a Hutchison Vale attacker!) was swift to suffocate any whiff of a threat and took the ball from the attacker's toe.
Leith held out to show that they are a side with a stubborn back-line, tough-tackling midfielders, and a forward line that makes the most of goal-scoring opportunities.
Fauldhouse: Ryan Fagan, Russell Murdoch, Jamie Poterala, Sammy McLean, Billy Brown, Christopher Marshall, Craig Pimbley, Ross Donnelly, Billy Hutchison, Fraser Keast, David Swan, Calvin Smith, Daniel Duffy, Ben Taylor.
Leith Athletic: Andy Haggon, Michael White, Ross Nisbet, Blair Simpson, Patrick Lewis, Douglas Ashall, Fraser Gray, Mathew Lloyd, Bobe Boyd, Keith Mason, Neil Watson, Scott Harrison, David Kirkham, Adam Hunter, Mathew Watson.
The full article contains 658 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
