BROXBURN ATHLETIC Colts under-17s continued their impressive start to the season with a brilliant team display as they handed out a 6-0 beating to Whitburn Claret on the big pitch at Stewartfield.
The visitors would have suffered even more but for an inspired display by goalkeeper Scott Benson.
The last line of defence in the Whitburn team kept the score down to 2-0 in a first half that belonged entirely to this top-class Broxburn combine.
Lewis Watson in the Colts goal was a virtual spectator in the first half such was the dominance of his team-mates as they moved the ball about with quick, accurate passing that had their opponents at full stretch from the opening whistle.
The home team are unbeaten so far this season, including a 3-2 win against Hutchison Vale in the Scottish Cup and the way they played against Whitburn marks them out as one of the strongest and best under-17 teams in the West Lothian Youth FA.
There were so many really good young players in the home line-up it was impossible to pick out any one of them for special mention.
Whenever one of the Broxburn boys did something exceptional, that was the cue for other players to impress.
Ryan Slessor set the ball rolling for the good turnout of fans on the Broxburn touchline with a cracking shot from 25 yards that skipped wide of a post and the home team did not let up for the rest of the game.
The opening goal came in the third minute.
A pass up the right to the quick-moving Kyle Robertson gave this exceptional young player the opportunity to use his pace to go past a Whitburn defender and his powerful shot at goal found the back of the net off a defender.
Broxburn went on to blitz their opponents' goal and it took a defiant and brave display from Benson to keep the score down to 1-0.
Robertson was brought down in another great run into the box and Connor Wallace showed great coolness to stick the ball past Benson from the resultant spot-kick to make it 2-0 in the 20th minute.
This game would have benefited from having floodlights so that everyone could admire and enjoy the quality of play from the home side and also the determination from the Whitburn players in not allowing themselves to be over-run.
Most of the play took place in the visitors' half, broken only by rare breaks from the beleaguered Whitburn Claret side.
Benson was the first-half hero and it is mainly due to the goalkeeper's efforts that Broxburn were prevented from scoring more than their two goals before the half-time break.
However, a minute into the second half and Benson had to pick the ball out of the back of the net again, with Wallace the marksman once more for the home team.
Three minutes later, it was 4-0 for the rampant Colts, this time it was another of the talented home squad, Jason McBurnie, who beat the gallant Benson with a superb low shot into the right-hand corner of the Whitburn goal.
Many sides would have thrown in the towel at this stage of a one-side contest, but not Whitburn. They were under siege but they refused to buckle and they enjoyed a huge slice of luck when Broxburn defender, Ryan Arnott, soared above everyone in the Whitburn goal to send a fantastic header crashing off the crossbar, following a corner from the right.
Whenever the visitors managed to take the game to Broxburn, they found it impossible to get the better of the big Colts' defenders and Watson had only a couple of saves to make throughout the second half.
Benson, at the other end, was all over the place as he made save after save, but he was beaten again when Arnott appeared in the Whitburn goalmouth to score from another corner from Michael Heraghty to take the margin to 5-0 in Broxburn's favour.
The game would not have been complete without a goal from Scott Pitman and it was the Broxburn No.10, another really good young footballer, who completed the rout with a tremendous shot from the edge of the 18-yard box that Benson had no chance of saving.
That took the final score to 6-0 and Whitburn were somewhat lucky to get away with that.
Colts now go on to play Dunbar away in the next round of the Scottish Cup and if this Broxburn outfit continue to play their own version of total football, the East Lothian under-17 team will have to be at their very best to compete.
Following the team talk at the end of the game, the Broxburn coach insisted he was not totally happy with his side's display when he said: "It was a good win, but we could have been better.
"We have made a good start to the season and our 3-2 win against Hutchison Vale was a good result. We teach our players to pass the ball and, hopefully, we can keep the momentum going."
Broxburn Athletic Colts: Lewis Watson, Michael Heraghty, Greig Anderson, Steven Brooks, Greg Arbuckle, Craig Purves, Gareth Mitchell, Connor Wallace, Jason Forrest, Jason McBurnie, Scott Pitman, Ryan Arnot, Gary Watson, Ryan Slessor, Kyle Robertson, Shaun Callander.
Whitburn Claret: Scott Benson, Scott Brown, Callum Krendler, Adam Gibb, Jon Donaldson, Paul Kelly, James Bryce, Steven Clancy, Gary McGrorty, Blair Compton, Jordan Evans, Christopher Hawthorn, Michael Ellis, Joe Conway.
Referee: Scott Townsley.
The full article contains 944 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
