Easthouses make up in Mackay Cup

Easthouses exacted retribution for a recent league defeat at the hands of Spartans Reds by dumping their Lothian Buses South East Region under-13 Division 2 rivals out of the Ian Mackay Cup at Inverleith Park.

At 3-2 down with 20 minutes to go, the Midlothian side shocked their hosts with three goals in the closing stages to post a 5-3 victory and win a place in the next round of the cup competition sponsored by the Evening News' long time youth football correspondent.

In a thrilling opening quarter of an hour, Easthouses assumed an early lead only for Spartans to equalise, but the visitors again went ahead soon after. After five minutes, Connor McCallion bulged the top right-hand corner of home goalkeeper Jack Morton's net, but Scott Easton surged up the other end moments later to execute a superb run and shot into the bottom left-hand corner.

Easthouses defender Robbie Carter showed break-neck determination to stretch and meet William Hutchison's cross-goal shot and divert into the net after 12 minutes, a goal that handed his side the lead and completed a whirlwind first half scoring sequence.

After the interval, Spartans equalised when Calum Paton's corner from the right caused panic in the Easthouses ranks, and Matthew Young applied the final touch to send the ball past goalkeeper Lee McOwen. Three minutes later, McOwen was picking the ball from his net once again as Spartans went ahead. Conor Whalen floated a free kick deep into the Easthouses box and Ryan Currie attempted a deft touch over McOwen, but the goalkeeper leapt high to stop the shot going over him. The ball, though, then fell directly to the feet of Currie, who lashed the ball past the grounded goalkeeper and into the net. From an end-to-end and fairly even affair emerged an Easthouses onslaught and a determined comeback.

With 18 minutes to go, Easthouses' John Wyse saw his shot from the edge of the box come crashing off the underside of the crossbar, and the ball rebounded perfectly for Euan Greig to drill home from close range and equalise.

Firmly in the ascendancy, Easthouses then assumed a 4-3 lead, with Wyse's long-range striking power again rewarded - but this time in more spectacular fashion. Picking up possession around 20 yards from goal on the left-hand edge of the penalty area, the No.?15 struck a rasping drive with such force that, despite being met by the firm hand of Spartans goalie Morton, propelled the ball into the far corner of the net.

Spartans pushed for an equaliser, but their opponents stood stoically in the face of most attacks and more often than not it was the omnipresent Easthouses defender Michael MacFarlane who proved the impassable obstacle.MacFarlane mopped up most of the home side's forward forays and put in a number of particularly vital blocks. He was ably assisted by fellow defender Alex Caterer, who muscled away Spartans attacker Currie to good effect as the frontman bore down on goal, allowing McOwen to smother the ball and halt the progress of his nemesis.

A thrilling encounter was concluded by another awesome strike as Easthouses sealed their passage to the next round with a fifth goal five minutes from the end. Robbie Carter's piledriver from the right-hand side of the penalty area flew into the net to give Morton no chance.

Easthouses boss John Gilchrist, who reflected post-match on a season in which his side has blown hot and cold, thought on this occasion it was the character of his players that shone through.

He said: "I felt it was an excellent cup tie, and we showed a lot of character to come back from 3-2 down. It was a real team effort where the substitutes and everyone played their part."

Spartans Reds: Jack Morton, Chris Pringle, William Shepherdson, Fergus Clelland, Calum Paton, Jordan Lock, Joe Newman, Scott Easton, Conor Whalen, Rory Martin, Ryan Currie, Conal Henderson, Matthew Young.

Easthouses: Lee McOwen, Alex Caterer, Robbie Carter, Blair Innes, Euan Greig, Kieran Hosie, Michael MacFarlane, William Hutchison, Euan Russell, Connor McCallion, Ross Moir, Liam Thomson, Lindsay Birrell, John Wyse, Liam Dunbar, Callum Bain.