ROYAL HIGH'S Scottish Schools' FA Shield fourth-round tie at Senior level against Penicuik High School was one of the few games to go ahead on Saturday morning in Edinburgh – and, while so many other council-owned pitches in the Capital were declared unplayable, the grass pitch at the school in Barnton was in remarkably good condition for what was a superb game of football.
Royal High caught the visiting side cold, scoring two early goals to give them the springboard to go on and clinch an away tie against Lasswade High School in the fifth round, with the final score 3-2 in their favour.
The home side went in fro
nt when Callum Hunter broke on the right to slip the ball into the net wide of Penicuik keeper Euan Cole. And before the visitors had time to recover, they found themselves 2-0 behind, from a wonderful 20-yard cracker of a shot from Jamie Faull.
That second goal spurred Penicuik into action and they took the game to Royal High with good passing football, and it was the turn of Patrick Sadlar in the home goal to show how good a keeper he was. But the Midlothian school got themselves back into contention before half-time, the hard-working Darren Bell scoring from a rebound off Sadlar, after the goalkeeper could only block a tremendous strike from Dean Knight.
Reducing the deficit boosted Penicuik even more but the score was still 2-1 in favour of Royal High when excellent match official, Bill Wright, blew for the break.
While the level of sportsmanship in the first half was tremendous, things heated up after the break, with both sides getting really stuck in.
Bell went close to getting a second goal for Penicuik, but Sadlar managed to deflect the shot wide of the post for a corner.
At the other end, Stephen Cameron, who had been prominent for Royal High up front in the first half, was sent crashing on the edge of the box, but he wasted the chance and sent the free-kick away wide of the goal.
Bell then won a free-kick for Penicuik, but Sadlar distinguished himself again, clutching the ball expertly under pressure.
Another massed attack on the home goal was eventually cleared amid fantastic scenes around Sadlar, with bodies all over the place. Penicuik did have the ball in the net shortly after that, but Knight was clearly offside.
The incredible pace of the game continued and it was the home side and their fans on the touchlines who celebrated when an unfortunate Penicuik defender deflected the ball into his own net after a determined Royal High move on the visitor's goal. Going further behind at 3-1 from an own goal did not finish off the committed Penicuik players, however, and they upped the pace even more, and the match official was more involved in the process as well to keep control of the game.
The visitors reduced the deficit to 3-2 when Knight was allowed to run in on Sadlar – from what appeared to be an offside position – to score Penicuik's second goal of the game.
The strike ensured a spectacular, all-out and no-holds-barred finish to the tie. But Royal High had done enough to clinch their place in the next round, while Penicuik will possibly rue the loss of the two early goals.
While the home coaches thought their team "had made it hard for themselves", credit must be given to Penicuik for the way they fought back and, in the process, made this such an exciting and enjoyable game of football at this level – it was a pleasure to watch these teams in action.
Royal High: Patrick Sadlar, Ewen Lowrie, Lewis Cavanagh, Craig Blyth, David Blair, Jamie Faull, James Robson, Stephen Cameron, Kieron McWatt, Kelvin Corey, Callum Hunter, Patrick Tillbrook.
Penicuik High School: Euan Cole, Mathew Watson, Peter How, Douglas Liddle, Craig McRossan, Stuart Gallagher, Tom Sanderson, Blair Dickson, Dean Knight, Darren Bell, Jordan Thomson, Keith Millar.
Referee: Bill Knight.
The full article contains 683 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
