Easthouses triumph as rivals miss spot kicks

Published on Saturday 27 June 2009 11:11

LOCHEND paid the penalty for two spot-kick misses as Easthouses stormed to a 5-2 win in the South East Region Youth FA's under-13 Division 4 League Cup final at Gyle Recreation Ground.

Easthouses had secured a two-goal cushion by half-time as their rivals squandered their first 12-yard chance.

In the second period, Lochend were arguably on their way back into the match but couldn't convert a second penalty before Easthouses wrapped up a convincing victory.

The goalscoring began in the 14th minute as Easthouses' Mikey Dillion crossed from the right and Jack Irvine's header rippled the bottom left-hand corner of the net. A mere 15 minutes later, the referee ruled that Easthouses defender Michael Kierzkoski used undue force to muscle Ryan Henderson from the ball as the Lochend attacker made his way towards goal, but Henderson himself drove the resulting penalty wide of the left-hand post.

Five minutes later, the Midlothian side made it two when Shawn McAleer's rasping long-range drive flew into the right-hand corner of Gerry McBride's goal. Lochend captain Jay Lothian had two chances towards the end of the half to salvage some hope for his side prior to the interval.

Firstly, on 33 minutes, he flashed an effort wide from the right-hand side of the penalty area, then toe-poked the ball over and out from a more central position a minute later.

After the break, Lochend pulled a goal back with a glorious strike by David Jack. The forward let fly from fully 20 yards and found the top left-hand corner of the net in some style on 43 minutes.

Things went from promising, to bad, to worse for Lochend, though, in the next ten minutes.

Easthouses regained their two-goal advantage as the unmarked Darren Gould headed into an exposed net from a corner kick.

Immediately afterwards at the other end, Jake Summers contrived to sky a spot-kick after McAleer had felled Max Freeman in the box.

The three goals scored in the last ten minutes failed to arrive in an order that would have added a touch of tension and excitement to the game. Instead, it was Easthouses who appeared to run away with the game, going 4-1 up, conceding one, then sealing a 5-2 victory. Unfortunately for Lochend, the fashion of their rivals' fourth goal was not favourable either. Gould broke free on the left-wing before firing in a shot that was well blocked by McBride, but the loose ball cannoned off Gould towards goal, where defender Daniel Brennan was unable to clear the ball beyond the net as he faced the goal.

A bright spot for Lochend came in the skill of Henderson on 66 minutes as he delightfully trapped the ball underfoot to see off his marker, hot-footed it forward and toe poked the ball in off the bar.

Linesman Sofiane Mansouri was in no doubt the ball had crossed the line before bouncing back into play.

Easthouses' Irvine notched his second of the game a minute later, though, with a simple strike to halt any hint of a Lochend comeback.

An emotional Shona McAleer, Easthouses' head coach, was proud of her boys at the final whistle.

"I thought we could have held it up stronger, and I had a feeling we were going to give it away at one point," she said. "Everything about our play was fine, and I'm very proud of the boys. They worked hard in a final last month but lost, and they bounced back very well."

Lochend coach Iain Binning insisted that his boys deserved the win. "I thought the better team lost," he said. "We played well at times but were disappointed to lose our last game (of the season]. It would have been nice to go out with a bang. We're proud to have got this far, though, and we'll come back fighting next year."

Lochend: Gerry McBride, Ryan McMurdo, Daniel Brennan, Darren Galligan, Jake Summers, Jay Lothian, Lee Robertson, Ryan Henderson, Max Freeman, David Jack, Ryan Hunter, Lewis Park, Callum Park, Liam Main, Daniel Goodwin, Jacob Reid.

Easthouses: Blair McInnes, Cameron Auld, Sean Keene, Ryan Weston, Michael Kierzkoski, Ryan Borland, Jack Irvine, Scott Whitley, Shawn McAleer, Johnathan Harding, Darren Gould, Mikey Dillion, Charlie Carter.