Early goals seal Vics cup win

The Premier Division 1 side were competitive throughout and dominated their opponents who struggled to adapt to Vics’ movement off the ball.

James Hunter opened the scoring for the home side before a terrific individual goal by Ryan Moore made it 2-0 as he skipped past two defenders before unleashing a low, driven effort into the bottom corner.

Steven Philp, who was making his debut after signing from Leith Athletic 21s last week, stretched Vics’ lead to three with a neat finish just before the break, leaving the visitors with a mountain to climb in the second half.

Vics booked their place in the quarter-finals with a fourth goal after 65 minutes through Alan Baillie’s clever run and shot, but the scoreline should have been far greater as the hosts missed a number of opportunities late on.

Vics’ John Love was impressed with the level of his players’ performance and is  relishing the run-in as it promises to be an exciting climax to the season.

He said: “They were a big, strong and physical side but we had one of our better games. Everybody is doing their bit for the team at the moment.

“We’re still in four cups and are in the run-in for the league too. We’ll take each game as it comes but it’s great we’ve got so much to play for at this stage of the  season.”

Revenge for Cramond

Cramond FC gained revenge  for their league defeat as they thumped North Edinburgh Wanderers 5-0 to reach the quarter-finals of the Miller  Cup.

The contest at Silverknowes promised a tight affair prior to kick-off but the visitors came out the traps early making their intentions clear from the start.

Darren White’s accurate free kick sailed into the back of the net to put Cramond one up before Danny McFadden capitalised after his initial effort had come back off the post.

White then notched his second and Cramond’s third after the break when he latched on to a cutback from the right and gave Wanderers’ goalkeeper Ronald McKeller no chance with a fine strike into the  corner.

Wanderers player Ashley Ahbazkhani then suffered the misfortune of slicing the ball over McKeller’s head to score Cramond’s fourth of the afternoon and Greg Summers put the icing on the cake with a composed finish to complete the rout.

Cramond coach Kris Tod is pleased with the season so far after earning promotion from Edinburgh West Division last year. Tod said: “I think there was that bit extra motivation from the guys to go out and get the result after they turned us over the last time in the league so we’re pleased to get through.

“We’re coming along  nicely so credit must go to the  guys for their efforts.”

Windsor battle back

Musselburgh Windsor Amateurs produced a second-half comeback to overturn Victoria Loco 2-1 at Meggetland and reach the third round of the Ian McDonald Cup.

Musselburgh Windsor player coach Mark Finlayson said: “We made a couple of changes in the second half and managed to get back in the  game. It was a fairly close match with both sides having a number of chances but I think we probably did just enough to shade it.”

Loco took the lead when  David Warnock headed home from a free kick in a first half where both sides had a number of opportunities in front of goal.

However, the visitors were back on level terms after the interval when Gareth Kerr played a neat one-two with team-mate Barry Arthur before firing home from inside the penalty area.

Musselburgh then netted the winner when a scramble in the Loco box was seized upon by Arthur and he poked the ball into the corner to send Windsor through.

Kevin Dunn of Victoria Loco said: “We should have had the game buried in the first half but they came into it after the break and got their goals.”