Leith leave Tynie stuck in the mud

Published on Saturday 17 January 2009 10:03

THE muddy pitch at Leith Links appeared to be an impossible hurdle for Leith Athletic and Tynecastle under-16s to overcome to demonstrate their neat, passing football but the teenagers rose to the occasion and served up a feast of football.

Spectators tried unsuccessfully to find shelter behind trees on the road side of the pitch while the players were left to face the howling wind and driving rain.

Players in both camps had suffered from flu and other winter illnesses over the break but all the boys who took part in the game were fantastic.

A disgruntled Hibs fan, making his way home from the 2-0 Scottish Cup defeat to Hearts, watched the second half and summed up his feelings when he said: "I have just paid 27 to see the game at Easter Road and Hibs never kicked a ball. I come down here and all I see is two teams of totally committed kids playing in such a good game to watch. I am never disappointed when I watch a kids' game at Leith Links. I can't say the same when I watch Hibs play!"

Tynecastle had the better of the first half and Scott Aitken scored two brilliant goals. The first came in the tenth minute following a superb cross-field pass from right to left and when the ball was sent into the goalmouth, the Tynecastle No.17 was left with the easy task of sticking it past Leith goalie Stuart Dodds.

Kris McLoughlin was in superb form up front for the home side and he caused the visiting defence lots of problems with his powerful runs. Gavin Pettigrew also went close to scoring an equaliser, but Tynecastle goalkeeper Alan Andrews performed heroics to block the ball.

In the 17th minute, Aitken was on target again, with the Leith defenders backing off him as he ran at their goal. Aitken took advantage to slam a great shot that rocketed off the sodden turf in front of the Leith goal and the ball sped past Dodds into the bottom left-hand corner of the net.

It was a real opportunist goal for the striker, but it was also the last time the visitors managed to get the better of the excellent Leith goalkeeper.

McLoughlin continued to create chances at the other end and it was the big No.9 who got Leith back into the game shortly before the half-time whistle from excellent referee William Connor. Kayne Paterson then set up McLoughlin to fire the ball past Andrews to make it 2-1 at the break.

Tynecastle mounted a good attack on the restart, then the home side took over, aided and abetted by having the wind in their favour.

The equaliser came from a stunning shot from Liam Tomassi from 22 yards out, with the ball flying past Andrews and into the top right-hand corner of the net.

By that time, the sky had cleared and the rain stopped hammering down, but the wind was as fierce as ever.

Leith took control and their constant pressure paid off when McLoughlin lashed a 22-yard free-kick past Andrews, just inside his left-hand post to put Leith 3-2 in front.

Onesu Tarengwa tried to get Tynecastle going with good play in midfield but Leith went 4-2 ahead when Paterson scored from close in.

McLoughlin went close to adding another with a terrific wind-assisted shot that raged just wide of the target. Tyrone M'Jimenez then set up Conor Scott to make it 5-2 and the Tynecastle players looked very tired towards the end of the game. McLoughlin went on to complete a great second-half display from the home side when he scored another goal to make the final scoreline 6-2.

In such conditions, every player was a hero in every respect.

The pitch was a mud bath at the finish, but the sportsmanship among the bedraggled players as they shook hands with each other at the close of play was heartwarming.

Leith Athletic: Stuart Dodds, Ben McKinnon, Alan Murray, Greg Douglas, Lewis O'Connor, Kayne Paterson, Conor Scott, Kris McLoughlin, Liam Tomassi, Tyrone M'Jimenez, Liam Smith, Greg Turnbull, Gavin Pettigrew, Steven Brown.

Tynecastle: Alan Andrews, Craig Robertson, Jamie Anderson, Stuart Duncanson, Michael Elder, David Liddle, Aiden Duncan, Craig Sinclair, Matthew Skene, Callum Milligan, Scott Aitken, Onesu Tarengwa.

Referee: William Connor.