NAPIER UNIVERSITY not only beat the highly-rated Falkirk Amateurs in their East of Scotland Cup clash on the 3G pitch at Saughton Park, the brilliant student outfit gave their opponents a lesson in the finer arts of passing on their way to a 5-3 victory.
Napier will possibly rate this result against one of the most respected amateur clubs in Scotland as the finest in their ongoing bid to establish themselves as one the top teams in the University Leagues and also in the Lothian & Edinburgh Amateur
FA.
Napier had, in big No.8 Chris Crookes, the best midfielder on the pitch, but the real shining star was right-sided Napier No.2 Vito Votta, and what a wonderful footballer this young man is.
I am old enough to remember that great wee Scottish winger Jimmy Johnstone at his best and the Napier student brought back all the wonderful memories I have of Celtic FC star "Jinky" every time he got the ball and set off on fantastic runs at the big Falkirk defenders.
Votta was the smallest player on the pitch, but he was also one of the toughest when challenging for the ball.
An added positive feature at this game was the near immaculate display from match official Gordon Clarkson from East Calder. The former footballer helped make this such a good game.
Napier got off to the best start possible when Scott Tindal blasted the ball past Falkirk keeper John McEwan in the second minute and the students looked likely winners from then on.
The visitors hit back with a great accurate, short-passing move but the Napier rearguard were also in brilliant form and the danger was cleared.
Napier swept back up the field and won a corner on the right which led up to them making the score 2-0 in the seventh minute with Votta supplying the cross for Calum Wallace to bullet the ball into the Falkirk net.
In another raid on the Falkirk goal, John O'Hara had the chance to put Napier further ahead when he was given a free header at goal, only to put it agonisingly wide.
At the other end, Derek Colquhoun went close to reducing the deficit but it took a great block by Pierre Gougett in the Napier goal to stop the shot with his feet.
O'Hara then had a net-bound shot booted off the goal-line and it was the turn of Votta again to win a great ball on the right before sending a good cross into the danger area in front of the Falkirk goal, but Crookes shot wide.
Falkirk pulled a goal back when Colquhoun found the net from a free-kick 25 yards out in the 23rd minute.
At the start of the second half, Napier scored what at that time was the goal of the game when Crookes sent Votta free with a great defence-splitting pass and the wee winger sent over a perfect cross for O'Hara to out jump the Falkirk defence before bulleting the ball home to make it 3-1.
In another Falkirk raid on the left, Leslie George did all the hard work before delivering the ball to Hume, but the big No.10 slammed his shot wide of the target, again!
But it was Hume who managed to reduce the score to 3-2 when he unleashed a thunderbolt of a shot into the Napier net, following good play on the right from Iain Carson, in the 55th minute.
Before the celebrations had died down on the Falkirk touchline, however, Napier went 4-2 up with a goal that just about summed up the quality of this game.
Votta went on another run on the right for Napier, then sent over a superb cross into the Falkirk goalmouth where O'Hara had his back to goal, but the Napier No.9 manufactured an incredible hook shot over his head and into the back of the Falkirk net to put Napier 4-2 ahead. That, really, was the goal of the game.
Colquhoun went close for Falkirk at one end, then the students goalkeeper produced two magnificent blocks in succession to deny Hume and Carson.
In the 67th minute of a game that simply got better and better, Napier scored again to go 5-2 in front, with Crookes out jumping defenders to send a perfect header crashing past McEwan.
The standard of play in the closing stages was superb and Colquhoun missed a snip of a chance for Falkirk before Carson scored their third goal to make the final scoreline 5-3.
Napier fully deserved their success, with one of the Falkirk coaches, saying: "Nothing should be taken away from Napier University, as they fully deserved their victory. Good luck to them."
Napier University: Pierre Gougett, Vito Votta, John Stewart, Wayne Murdo, Mark Efe Agrosun, Chris Malsteed, Chris Crookes, John O'Hara, Calum Wallace, Scott Tindal, Orin Parkinson, Gregor Campbell, James McLean, Paul Young.
Falkirk Amateurs: John McEwan, John Gaffney, Leslie George, John Wannan, Neil Fleming, Iain Carson, Martin Mooney, Roddy Kirk, Derek Colquhoun, Andy Hume, Sean Lynch, Steven Stewart, Robert Angus.
The full article contains 870 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
