Musselburgh Grammar show their eye for goal

THE exceptional level of enthusiasm shown for minor-grade football across Scotland was in evidence at the Pinkie Sports Field for a Scottish Schools' Shield under-13 tie between Musselburgh Grammar and St Thomas of Aquin's.

The facilities at Pinkie are exceptional and the two young teams were allowed to play this important tie on the main pitch.

This game was well worth covering and was a great example of the work done in schools to encourage active participation in football.

When it kicked off, the home side caught St Thomas cold and were virtually out of sight by half-time a 5-1 lead. he excellent young visiting side had not managed to play many competitive games recently and it showed in the first half when they also had to face playing into a strong wind and bright sunshine.

Grammar started very well and looked good when on the attack, as they were constantly in the opening stages.

Neil Martyneuk was a star in midfield for the home side and he started many of their good passing moves but the home side also used both flanks to mount assaults on the St Thomas goal.

George Hunter on the right wing had a brilliant first half for Musselburgh and it was the flying winger who was brought down in the box, resulting in young match official, Keir Robinson, awarding a penalty.

Martyneuk buried the spot-kick behind St Thomas keeper Rian McDermott to put Musselburgh 1-0 up.

Hunter was involved in his side's second goal when he sent a great cross from the right to the waiting Kane Weir, who ran the ball over the goal-line at the back post to make it 2-0.

Rodrigo McCafferty took the game to the other end as the visiting side started to pick up the pace of the game, but the danger was cleared.

The courageous St Thomas side worked hard and they had a really good attack that produced a great shot from McCafferty at the Musselburgh goal but Stuart Mackay saved well.

Then Cameron Armstrong and Aidan Ross combined well in a move on the home goal but the Musselburgh rearguard cleared the danger and the ball was sent hurtling back up field.

St Thomas were caught out at the back and hey had to concede a corner on the right.

Grammar then went 3-0 up when Ryan Lee scored from another excellent cross from the right, delivered by Hunter again.

The big pitch ensured there was plenty of space for players to show their skills and St Thomas looked good when they broke out of their own half.

In one of these moves, Mackay brought off the save of the game when he came off his line to dive brilliantly to the left to deflect a thundering shot on the run from James Flynn behind for a corner.

The visiting defence conceded another goal when a Martyneuk effort was palmed away brilliantly by St Thomas keeper McDermott, but the ball rebounded into the path of Dean Ballantyne and he had an easy task to make it 4-0.

In another superb break through the centre of the home defence, Flynn beat Mackay in a challenge for the ball and the St Thomas No.9 cashed in with his side's first goal to reduce the deficit to 4-1.

That lifted the spirits of the visiting side but they went on to lose another goal before the half-way stage of this thoroughly entertaining cup clash.

After more brilliant play on the right from Hunter, the ball was sent in to the St Thomas goalmouth and McDermott pulled off two amazing saves before Ryan Kane managed to find the back of the net to make it 5-1.

In the second half, St Thomas were more like the good team they are. Armstrong had a good shot at Mackay's goal on the restart and the visiting side got much more involved in the midfield and that enabled them to be seen much more on the attack.

The determined Peter Connolly took advantage to score a second goal for St Thomas and give them a real lift.

However, the brave fightback was more or less over when Musselburgh attacked up the left and Ballantyne, again, was well placed to take advantage of another great block by McDermott from a Weir cross to net the rebound and make it 6-2.

The second half was full of great attacking moves from both sides, amazing effort and sportsmanship from all the young players and a very good display from the young match official.

However, he came in for some criticism from a few parents on the touchlines – behaviour which is not acceptable in schools' football.

The two teams put up a great show and it is important to let the players get on with it, without any interference from adults.

Young footballers need good role models and non-stop encouragement at games.

Jake Adamson, the young teacher in charge of the home squad, said: "It was a great result for the team and, obviously, very encouraging for the boys."

Despite the disappointment of losing, St Thomas coach, John Binnie, said: "Our boys definitely looked like they had not played since the end of September – so many cancellations due to the weather meant we had not kicked a ball since before the start of October.

"The boys are rightly disappointed they did not perform as they could but they definitely rallied as the game went on and they didn't give up despite being up against an organised and very dynamic team."

Musselburgh Grammar: Stuart Mackay, Dean Ballantyne, Daniel Grove, George Hunter, Shaun Lawrence, Ryan Lee, Neil Martyneuk, Kyle McCleod, Ryan McKinnon, Andrew McNeill, Mark Slater, Daniel Taylor, Scott Thorburn, Kane Weir.

St Thomas: Rian McDermott, Aidan Duddy, Aidan Ross, Michael Monan, Jamie Murray, Liam McKay, Daniel Pacitti, Michael Binnie, James Flynn, Peter Connelly, Cameron Armstrong, Rodrigo McCafferty, Jacob Kennedy.

Referee: Keir Robinson.