Musselburgh Windsor weather the North Merchiston storm in Cup thriller

MUSSELBURGH WINDSOR withstood a mid-game resurgence by North Merchiston and advanced to the next round of the South East Region under-14 Bill Sheridan Cup with a 5-4 win at Pinkie playing fields.

North Merchi arguably merited at least a crack at extra-time from their trip to East Lothian – their spirited resilience to emerge on level terms early in the second-half after going 3-0 down going unrewarded.

The visitors can console themselves, though, with the prospect of a cup semi-final to look forward to and the opportunity to attain a high league finish.

North Merchi currently have three games in hand over Windsor, maximum points from which would propel them from 12th place to level pegging with the Honest Toun club in their division.

"The boys came back from 3-0 down and showed good character," said North Merchi coach Donald McDonald. "We played a lot of good football, and created a lot of chances."

The Harrison Park side have been forced to forsake a number of chances to climb the Division 1 table, with some impressive cup progress meaning league games have been postponed.

"We've done okay in a couple of the cup competitions, and that's put the league on a bit of a back-burner," says McDonald.

"We're in the semi-final of the South East Region Cup along with Edina Hibs, Hutchison Vale 96, and Tynecastle. The big three will battle for the league, but we've some hope of winning a cup. A lot of our success this year and in the past is down to coach Andrew Young."

Young and McDonald's charges were slow to start against a rampant Windsor side, who raced into a three-goal lead within the first quarter of an hour.

Superlative finishes by Fraser Murray and Cayne Moffat flew past North Merchiston's keeper Darren Mitchell before his defence had left the traps, and Moffat took advantage of some further slackness in the Black and Whites' defence to convert a left-wing cross and make it three on 15 minutes.

Awoken from their slumber, North Merchi finally announced their arrival and pulled a goal back three minutes later, thanks largely to the battling qualities of Jake Kerr. The midfielder, who formed a formidable central partnership with the equally impressive Calum Young, broke forward and, although he surrendered control of the ball twice in the process, he came off better in two 50-50 challenges en route to goal.

Kerr then nudged the ball forward to Joe Turner Law and, although North Merchi were initially denied as Windsor goalkeeper Ryan McKinnon dived at Law's feet to block, the ball spun out to the right to Michael Jenkins, who drove a first-time finish into the net past the McKinnon and his bedraggled defence.

McKinnon again played his part in preserving Windsor's lead on the half-hour, saving a strike by Law after the North Merchi No.9 showed great link-up play with Kris Buchanan.

Unfortunately for the goalkeeper, the ball once more fell conveniently to the feet of a North Merchi attacker, and Lewis Hewitt was allowed an easy finish to bring the score to 3-2.

Substitute Ben Robbins instilled further energy to the North Merchi cause soon after half-time. His long-range strike was easily gathered by McKinnon, but two minutes later Robbins went one better, majestically heading in a right-wing cross to claim the equaliser. Thereafter, Windsor, far from resigned to their buoyant opponents coming away with the spoils, turned the tables on Merchi and, within 15 minutes, had assumed an unassailable 5-3 lead.

Jordan Brown saw a shot well saved by North Merchi's Mitchell after cutting in from the right, but the goalkeeper was helpless in the face of the same opponent on 55 minutes, Brown forcing a powerful effort from a similar shooting position into the far corner. Within 60 seconds of retaking the lead, Windsor doubled their advantage with the deftest of touches by Cameron MacFarlane. Both North Merchi's defence and Windsor's attack were unable to seize an inviting ball into the box from the right, and just as the ball looked to be trundling through to goalkeeper Mitchell, MacFarlane nipped in to dink the ball over the last line of defence.

North Merchi, though, drew some consolation – and reduced the deficit to one – from MacDonald's strike ten minutes from full-time.

Windsor coach Gary Risi felt his side's win was fully justified.

"Don't get me wrong, our laddies started brilliantly, but a couple of mistakes gave North Merchi a boost," he said. "I didn't think we'd get beat, but to say that the laddies deserved to win is an understatement.

"A bit of ring-rustiness cost them after five weeks without a game. I thought they controlled the game and it was during that sticky spell at the end of the first half and the start of the second that we let Merchi back into the game."

Risi hopes Windsor, who finished fifth in the league last season and were beaten finalists the 2008/09 Lothian Buses Cup, can carry this sort of form into the remainder of the season.

"If we could win a cup, that'd be great, but we're looking to finish in the four or five in the league. We've a great bunch of laddies here."

Musselburgh Windsor: Ryan McKinnon, Robbie Mealyou, John Stuart, Shaun Lawrence, Kyle Galazka, Liam McNeill, Lewis Thompson, Louis Luke, Fraser Murray, Jordan Brown, Cayne Moffat, Cameron MacFarlane, Greg McWilliams, Josh Elliot, Brenden Sleigh.

North Merchiston: Darren Mitchell, Peter Elliot, Reece Henderson, Jake Kerr, Ben Robbins, Calum Young, Joe Turner Law, Kris Buchanan, Jake MacDonald, Josh Kerr, Anton Dowds, Michael Jenkins, Lewis Hewitt, Greig Brown, Ben Brigain.