National pride for City 17s

City entered the national final with confidence due to their victory in last year's equivalent under-16 competition, and a healthy crowd at Airdrie's Excelsior stadium saw Ross McNeil's boys capitalise on this belief.

They took the lead early in the game, as Nicholas Locke slipped the ball home and that prompted a flurry of goals.

Hillwood's Scott Jackson equalised by stroking home a loose ball three minutes later – inducing wild celebrations – before City regained the lead only a minute later with an excellent curling shot from David McNeil at the edge of the area, clipping off the far post.

Hillwood pressed for an equaliser and had a merited handball shout turned down after a corner into the City box, whilst the sprightly play of Ross Docherty caused problems in the middle of the park. Their efforts were undone, however, when City stretched their lead even further with almost half an hour gone.

Locke's attempt was parried into the path of Michael Travis, whose shot smacked off the crossbar. It landed in the path of Brad McKay, who made no mistake, making it 3-1.

A few minutes before half-time, Hillwood's misery was compounded when Locke picked up his second of the game, stroking the ball past goalkeeper Robert Graham after collecting a stray ball on the edge of the box.

Hillwood, however, began the second-half with more gusto – Derek Hepburn stinging palms with a swerving free-kick – before the menacing Docherty netted from a well-taken curling shot from the edge of the box, leaving the goalkeeper helpless and giving Hillwood's comeback dreams a shot in the arm.

And there was even more joy for the Pollok team after the usually reliable City central defender Brad McKay misjudged a header, letting Marcus Clark race through on goal before rounding the keeper and slotting home with 15 minutes remaining.

The yo-yo nature of this game reared its head, however, ten minutes later after City's Locke notched his third of the game, tapping the ball in past despairing defenders after finding space in the box.

The side from the Capital seemed content to run down the clock and maintain the 5-3 scoreline, but they weren't helped by the referee, who seemed to engineer stoppage time out of thin air, dragging the game on for at least eight minutes extra.

It wasn't to matter, however, as Edinburgh City comfortably hung on to their two-goal lead and gave the small pocket of travelling fans plenty to cheer about.

Edinburgh City manager Ross McNeil felt that, despite winning, his team didn't perform to the best of their abilities.

He said: "I'm delighted with the victory but the team can play a lot better than that. They've won the Scottish Cup and they're annoyed at themselves, and that just shows what they're all about. "I don't think the victory was ever in doubt, but it's not about the starting 11, it's about the squad, which is very, very strong."

Hillwood Boys' Club manager John Alexander, meanwhile, believed City were worthy winners. "The better team won overall," he said. "Our defending was shocking – we gave them five goals, whereas we had to work for our three goals.

"We were 4-1 down and we asked the team to show a bit of pride in the jersey in the dressing room at half-time, and the boys came out flying. We defended poorly, but in saying that, you've still got to score the goals, and they took their goals well."

Edinburgh City: Lee Millar, Craig Tulloch, Liam Smith, Kayne Peterson, Brad McKay, Michael Travis, David McNeil, Nicholas Locke, Jordan Thomson, Gavin Pettigrew, Tinashe Mukundwa, Craig Sinclair, Dale Cornet, Ross Yeoman, Jake Moyes, Kenny O'Brien, Ryan Hutchison.

Hillwood Boys: Robert Graham, Daniel Johnstone, Scott Jackson, Ryan McLaughlin, Lee Ashcroft, Jamie Phillips, Jordon Devine, Conor Monaghan, Marcus Clark, Grant Alexander, Frazer Meechan, Ross Docherty, Gary Crawley, Gary Nugent, Derek Hepburn, Mark Smith, Bryan McMillan, Edward McTernan, Greg Christie, Aran Whitelaw.

TOMORROW sees Airdrie's Excelsior Stadium host the under-14 Scottish Youth FA Challenge Cup final between Tynecastle and Drumchapel Utd with a 11.00am kick-off.

Hopefully, the boys in maroon will carry home the silverware to put into the club's trophy cabinet beside the under-13 Scottish Cup which was won after a penalty shoot-out against local rivals Hutchison Vale.

Win or lose, it has been a wonderful achievement for Capital clubs to reach the finals of the nation's premier trophy after hundreds, if not thousands, of ties played. The Evening News salutes all the Capital clubs who reached the finals and wish Tynecastle all the best for tomorrow's final to make it four out of four victories. The fact that Eastern Region Youth FA clubs have captured three – possibly four – out of the seven age group competitions shows how strong this area is in terms of young footballing talent.