Never-say-die Dalkeith CYP pull off thrilling derby victory

With a large crowd in attendance, a real feast was served up in what proved to be a highly entertaining Sunday morning for all those who had chosen to take in this derby.

The Miners drew first blood when they gained the upper hand after ten minutes, Darin Waugh firing in from close range after a free-kick from the right failed to be cleared by the Dalkeith CYP rearguard.

This lead was then doubled only five minutes later. Stuart Hall’s burst of pace up the right hand side wasn’t dealt with and the youngster had time to square his pass into the centre of the penalty area for Ryan Ferguson to coolly knock beyond Jak Buchanan.

However, Dalkeith CYP reduced the deficit shortly after when Callum Bielski looped a shot into the top right corner from 20 yards leaving Jordan Cherrie with no chance.

Kieran Jack then had an opportunity to equalise when through on goal at the angle, but Cherrie stood up to the task and knocked the ball out for a corner. Jay Murray then squandered a great chance when his header from six yards was straight at the goalkeeper before Miners went up the park and increased their advantage.

Sam Jay Devlin did exceptionally well to evade two challenges up the left wing and his determination was rewarded when he rolled a pass to Ferguson who notched his second of the game with a swirling drive that Buchanan could only tip into the net.

The second half proved to be just as frantic, Dalkeith CYP requiring the next goal to give themselves any sort of chance of pulling off a victory. And they got it within the opening ten minutes courtesy of Jack’s composure as he rounded Cherrie before knocking the ball into the open net.

The equaliser soon followed as Robert Cole found the free Owen Winnik who fired his shot low into the corner to level it at 3-3.

Despite this setback, Miners were still continuing to play their attacking style and looked to have sealed victory when Ferguson played a neat pass inside to Waugh, where a clever swivel created space for the little striker to shoot past Buchanan and into the corner.

However, this remarkable game took another twist with only three minutes remaining as 4-3 became 4-4. Jack’s corner from the left fell kindly to Winnik and he showed great reaction to poke the ball past Cherrie as the Dalkeith CYP coaches’ despair turned to sheer jubilation.

Dalkeith CYP’s Fraser Walker had a final opportunity to win the tie outright after finding himself through on goal, but his control scuppered any opportunity of getting a strike in on goal and the match went into extra-time.

Both sides appeared to be tiring throughout the additional period of play, but it was Dalkeith CYP who found a fifth and winning goal within the opening ten minutes. Winnik showed great awareness to thread a pass through the Miners defence and, this time around, Walker was able to control the ball well before knocking in the winner from 12 yards to round off a pulsating encounter.

Victorious coach Alan Brown said: “We kept going, but I expected it was going to be close with it being a derby. But credit must go to both sets of players as it was a great game for a crowd that turned out in big numbers.”

Dalkeith Miners: Jordan Cherrie, Sam Jay Devlin, Stuart Hall, Mark Costello, Daniel Lennie, Ryan Ferguson, Stuart Frankland, Darin Waugh, Aidan Ramsay, Aaron Abrahams, Robbie Yuill, Jack Callaghan, Liam Hosie, Samuel Rutherford, Matthew Blakebell, Chris Kearsley.

Dalkeith CYP: Jak Buchanan, Ryan Brown, Robert Cole, Callum Bielski, Jay Murray, Glenn Prior, Owen Winnik, Ryan Shaw, Taylor Rogan, Kieran Jack, Fraser Walker, Charlie Black.