THE under-16 Scottish Youth Football Association's Challenge Cup final between a very talented Dyce Boys' Club outfit and Hutchison Vale brought down the curtain on the Festival of Seven Finals in the Excelsior Stadium in Airdrie – and it was the best of them all.
The quality of play from these two excellent youth club squads was fit to grace any level of the game in Scotland.
Every move was built from the back; long hopeful balls up the pitch did not feature in the play of either team.
The previous si
x finals had seen wins for Edinburgh City in the under-13 age group when they beat Glenafton 1-0 to lift the silverware, and another triumph, 3-2, for the brilliant Leith Athletic under-17s in their enthralling final against Johnstone Burgh.
Hutchison Vale's win, however, beats them all and to outplay a team of the calibre of Dyce was something special.
The Capital side made the better start but the free-moving Dyce outfit got their game going and it was simply stunning to see the level of passing and movement from these two squads of young footballers.
Dale McKenzie was magnificent in a central defender role with Fraser Greig and the big St Augustine's High School pupil had to pull out all the stops to prevent the Dyce team opening the scoring.
But it was keeper Daniel Dunn who went on to win the man-of-the-match award for his heroics in the Hutchison Vale goal.
After several assaults on the Hutchie goal, Dyce went 1-0 ahead in the 13th minute when Jonathan Reid made space for himself before rifling an unstoppable shot into the net off the underside of the bar from 12 yards out.
Even the inspired Gunn had no chance of stopping the ball smashing into the back of the net.
But if Dyce thought they had opened the floodgates, they were wrong and the setback appeared to strengthen the resolve among the Hutchison Vale players.
In attacks on the Dyce goal, David Stewart went close with a looping header that dropped just over the bar. Then David Welsh won a corner for Vale, but the ball was cleared by the Dyce defence and it was the turn of the Vale defence to enjoy a slice of luck with a shot at their goal coming off the top of the crossbar.
It was breathtaking play from both sides and Vale had to defend their goal again when Dyce attacked, and shots were charged down on two raids.
In a sweeping move to the other end of the pitch, the ball was switched quickly from Gary Waddell, Stewart and on to Welsh, but the danger was cleared.
Three minutes after the restart, a massive free-kick from the right touchline landed at the far post and Elliot showed remarkable speed to knock the ball into the net for the equaliser.
The confidence throughout the Vale camp went up a few notches and it was game on – with a vengeance.
But it was Gunn who distinguished himself with another stunning block to keep the ball from crossing the line. The Vale defence was magnificent in repelling the quick-moving Dyce attack and the rest of the Hutchie team were not far behind. Gunn took two attempts to gather another fierce drive from a Dyce attacker and that vital save was followed by a second goal for Hutchison Vale.
It came in the 26th minute of the second half and it was the very brave Stewart who took the credit for sticking the ball past the stunned Dyce goalkeeper, Murray Kinnaird, for the second time to put Vale into a 2-1 lead.
Dyce made tracks for Gunn on the restart and every Hutchison Vale player was back in their own goalmouth when the crack team from the north of Scotland won two corners in a row.
Whenever Vale broke, however, they looked dangerous and the game built up to a tremendous climax, with both sides still playing passing football and building moves up from the back.
Dyce had the opportunity to test Gunn again in the last minute of a game that simply flew by from a free-kick 30 yards out to the right of the Vale goal. But the delivery was poor and the ball skipped wide of the Vale goal and the final whistle went shortly after.
Hutchison Vale secretary, Petrina McGinn was a very proud women at the finish and she said: "It was simply amazing and our team played magnificently in the second-half. I am so proud of all the players and pleased for them too."
Team coach Chris Smith added: "This is my last season as team coach and I feel I am going out with a bang. We came good in the second half but Dyce are a brilliant team. To beat them in a Scottish Cup final is a great feat for Hutchison Vale."
Hutchison Vale: Daniel Gunn, Greg Paterson, Lewis Brown, Fraser Greig, Dale McKenzie, Aaron Scott, Stephen McGinn, Ryan D'Angelo, Gary Waddell, Dale Cleeton, David Welsh, David Stewart, James Elliot, Alex Brown.
Dyce Boys' Club: Murray Kinnaird, Stuart Armstrong, Jonathan Clark, Martin Crisp, Chris Eadie, Chris Jolly, Liam Kenyon, Ross Leslie, Andrew MacAskill, Lawrence McLelland, Jordan McMenemy, Adam Morrison, Grant Munro, Keelan Pirie, Jonathan Reid, Ryan Robertson, Andrew Sinclair, Harley Strachan, Lee Veitch.
Referee: Ian Cunning.
The full article contains 916 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
