LOCHEND midfielder Scott McNaughton claimed his hat-trick and the match honours with a tremendous strike late in the second half of the under-19 Hibs Supporters' Cup final at New Dundas Park in Bonnyrigg.
But what a great fight Edinburgh City put up in this superb football game, eventually losing out 3-2.
Pre-match favourites to win their third cup in seven days, Lochend were given a real fright when City went ahead in the first half with a real op
portunist goal scored by the hard-working Andrew Brand.
The big Edinburgh City No.9 chased down a ball to the left of the Lochend goal and hassled a defender before winning the ball back and toe-poking it past advancing Lochend keeper Dean Bird to put his side 1-0 up in the 25th minute.
It was a wonderful goal, although it was against the run of play. Lochend had been the more accomplished team but Brand's goal was a further example of the positive attitude among the City players and the goal they scored really rocked the confident Lochend contingent.
But their despair turned to jubilation a few minutes later when McNaughton scored the equaliser following another great passing move on the left. The ball was quickly delivered into the danger area and put away brilliantly by the classy Lochend midfielder.
McNaughton's dad Brian, the former Hearts player and current manager of Arniston Rangers, wasn't able to attend but his son certainly made his mark as he want on to complete his hat-trick.
It was still 1-1 at the break, although Lochend had the better attacking moves in the first half, while the Edinburgh City defence were outstanding in keeping the score down to 1-1. The well- supported under-19 outfit from the Capital produced an even bigger shock for Lochend and their fans early in the second half when a fiercely-driven low free-kick from 22 yards out delivered by Scott McIntosh beat the defensive wall and then took an amazing bounce before shooting upwards into the net off goalkeeper Bird's hands.
To say Lochend were shocked at going 2-1 down would be an understatement, they were positively stunned! To their credit, Lochend upped the pace of the game and they attacked in even greater numbers in a bid to get back on level terms.
City goalkeeper Scott Gibson and his defensive colleagues were, however, in brilliant form and they thwarted their more fancied opponent's time after time.
But there was always going to be a breaking point for the beleaguered City defence and it came midway through the second period, with a brilliant header from McNaughton at the back post after a quite exquisite cross delivered by Jack Ferguson on the left.
Sadly for Edinburgh City, they did not look to have another goal in their locker after McNaughton's equaliser.
Lochend continued with their accurate passing moves, while City tried their best when they broke away. The greater skill of the Lochend outfit produced another goal, a real classic of a strike from McNaughton bulleting into the net to the left of the helpless Gibson in the City goal to make it 3-2.
It was tough luck in many respects for the gallant side wearing the famous white and black outfits but they deserved all the praise from team boss, Dave Brand, who said: "We had really hard luck in the game. We went ahead twice and we created other chances. But Lochend are a very good side, indeed. It was disappointing to lose, but I am proud of all my players."
Meanwhile, Lochend coach, Ricky Miller, admitted: "This was an occasion when my heart ruled my head. I wanted to give all my squad a chance of playing in the final and we were behind twice, before we eventually managed to produce the winner. It was a lesson for me."
From a neutral point of view, it was an exciting and enjoyable under-19 cup final, played in a nice spirit with an excellent young referee, Ralph Gordon, in charge.
It was, indeed, a good night for football and McNaughton was the star performed in this game – and his dad wasn't there to see him score his hat-trick!
Lochend: Dean Bird, Ean Grieve, Ian Ballantyne, Niall Crick, Dean Reynolds, Ryan McCallum, Nicky Murray, Paul Coleman, Craig Rankin, Nathan Scott Campbell, Jack Ferguson, Davvid Duncan, Scott McNaughton, Jamie Lothian.
Edinburgh City: Scott Gibson, Ally Laird, Liam Robertson, Darren Russell, Dale Wight, Andrew Brown, Raymond Singleton, David Warnock, Scott McIntosh, Graeme Stewart, Sean Potter, Danny Shankleton, Finlay Blair.
The full article contains 778 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
