Heath to the fore as Vics cruise into third round of Logan Cup

Edinburgh South Vics cruised their way through to the third round of the Lothian 
and Edinburgh Amateur 
Logan Cup with a 2-0 victory over Cramond FC at Saughton’s 3G surface.

The Premier Division 1 side looked every bit the part, overpowering their Lothian West opponents from start to finish and perhaps should have added more goals to their tally.

Vics’ coach Tam Nolan was more than satisfied, however, and felt his side proved to be worthy winners.

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Nolan said: “We dominated the whole game and scored the goals at the right time. We had 90 per cent of the game and they only had one or two chances. The second goal just killed them near the end as they were trying hard to get back into the game, but I think we looked the fitter and sharper side.”

Vics came out the traps early, looking to keep the ball low to combat the gusty wind. Vics’ Alexander Heath’s inswinging corner from the left was met by Thomas Lowrie and his powerful header seemed destined to bulge the net until Cramond goalkeeper Greg Scott made a good stop on the goalline.

Heath was stamping his authority in the middle of the park with some crisp telling passes and the midfielder cleverly picked out the run of team-mate Peter Gilhooley at the near post, but he failed to test Scott from six yards as he fired over the top.

The home side were almost rewarded with a slightly fortuitous opener when striker Paul Murray’s weak shot was fumbled by Scott with Lee Cairns looking favourite to knock the ball home. However, Murray Carnie somehow got back to stop the ball crossing the line with a miraculous clearance.

Then, against the run of play, Cramond had the best opportunity of the match so far when a slip in Vics’ defence allowed Ryan Stewart through on goal, but the striker shot straight at Graeme Lennie who turned the ball round the post.

Cramond’s captain, Kyle Fee, then rattled the top of the crossbar with a free-kick from 25 yards before Heath shot from the edge of the penalty area, but it proved to be an easy take for Scott as the first half petered out.

Scott Waterson almost put the hosts ahead three minutes into the second half when he drove in from the right and curled an effort that went just wide of the left post.

Heath’s corners were proving a real handful for the Cramond defence and Scott Sutherland managed to escape the attention of a couple of defenders to fire a header just a fraction wide.

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Despite all the pressure on the Cramond rearguard, it was proving difficult for Vics’ attacking players to break their opponents down, often being restricted to long efforts on goal.

Cramond then had appeals for a penalty waved away when Jamie Lipscome appeared to be tripped, before the deadlock was finally broken after 70 minutes.

Heath rolled the ball to Sutherland and from just inside the box, the No. 11 fired a shot which Scott could only parry into the path of Murray, who tucked away with ease from close range.

Cramond offered little in the way of a threat going forward in the remaining 20 minutes and it was the home side who secured their passage into the next round with a second goal three minutes from time.

Gilhooley found goalscorer Murray in space. He in turn jinked his way past a defender before playing a pass to the onrushing Heath, who delivered a well-placed shot into the bottom left corner to seal victory.

Edinburgh South Vics: Graeme Lennie, Thomas Lowrie, Michael Kennedy, Ian Ballantyne, Ryan Moore, Peter Gilhooley, Scott Waterson, Alexander Heath, Lee Cairns, Paul Murray, Scott Sutherland, Alan Baillie, James Hunter, Ryan Smithwaite, Robert Nisbet, Jamie Watson.

Cramond FC: Greg Scott, Murray Carnie, Mark Cowan, Craig Webster, Kevin Walker, Danny McFadden, Ryan Stewart, Fraser Seywright, Kyle Fee, Jamie Lipscome, Neil Rankin, Bryan Moir, Darren White, John Lang, Kris Newbigging, Darren Affleck.