Kerr blimey! Edina raise their game to see off Tynecaste

Kerr Scott’s first-half strike proved to be enough for Edina  as Tynecastle appeared to struggle to find the level of  consistency they have shown over the course of the season.

Edina Hibs’ coach John Hall was ecstatic to have defeated their opponents who have  excelled this year but felt his side deserved it over the piece.

He said: “I think the better team won to be honest with you. Tynecastle are the Scottish Cup winners and have won a lot of trophies this year, but I think we showed the biggest appetite during the game. I think we have deserved something as we came second in the league which we were disappointed about, but we’re already looking forward to next year.”

Tynecastle’s Craig Russell saw the first glimpse of goal when his free-kick from the edge of the area went just wide of goalkeeper Christopher Scott’s left post.

Edina’s Jonathan Grotlin was next to try his luck and his powerful effort wasn’t too far away as his 25 yard effort was deflected just over the crossbar.

The match was being played at a fast pace with both teams looking to attack, but it was Edina who looked the more promising and deservedly took the lead after 25 minutes.

A long thrown in to the Tynecastle penalty area was poorly dealt with by the boys in maroon, and with the ball bouncing right to the centre of the six yard box, Scott was there to knock the ball past Billy Taylor to give Edina the lead.

Grotlin then played a superb pass through to Jack Wright who had only Taylor to beat, but the Tynecastle No.1 stood up to the challenge and gathered the ball comfortably. Grotlin was proving a lively threat for Edina and his ambitious  35-yard strike had to be dealt with by Taylor who was forced to tip the ball wide Aaron Waugh then played a difficult pass to Scott in the Edina goal and he miscued his kick out straight to Tynecastle striker Kyle Mitchell, but he couldn’t take advantage as his strike went wide.

Edina almost went two up immediately from the restart when a corner from the left picked out Grotlin’s near post run and his header had to be stopped on the line by a quick reaction save from Taylor. Then Mitchell once again found himself bearing down on goal, but the little striker failed to hit the target as his shot drifted wide much to the relief of Noble.

Grotlin was then free on the right but with pressure of two defenders close by, the striker chose to shoot early with his effort failing to test Taylor when he perhaps should have continued his run in on goal.

Tynecastle struggled to create much in the way of any clear cut chances that would have given them a fighting hope, but Jamie Purves did have one final opportunity when he collected the ball, drove into the Edina penalty area and fired a fierce strike at Scott which the goalkeeper had to collect at the second attempt.

Edina Hibs: Christopher Scott, Ryan Dawson, Brandon Torrance, Danial  Tomassi, William Noble, Aaron Waugh, Jack Wright, Jonathan Grotlin, Connor Dyet, John Fleming, Kerr Scott, Lewis Temple, Liam Higgins, Ryan Kearney, Daniel Smith, William Hutchison.

Tynecastle: Billy Taylor, David Wright, Calum Cowan, Matthew Quinn, Craig Russell, Greg Binnie, Jaimie Purves,  Jason Kerr, Cameron Jeffrey, Kyle Mitchell, Lewis Murray, Euan Graham, Mark Shiells, Matthew Graham, Tyler Connachan, Jamie Hamilton.