Page turns final on its head

Leith Athletic must have felt they had done enough having held a 3-2 lead by injury time of the second half, but a resilient Hutchie struck two precious goals in the final two minutes to claim the silverware.

The game started in the manner in which it finished, with goals galore.

Leith opened the scoring on seven minutes when Scott Thomas Harrison knocked the ball across goal for John MacMillan, who slotted it home with a calm finish to cap a good move and an early period of dominance by Leith.

After the opener, play levelled out and Hutchison Vale snatched an equaliser through Lewis Page on 15 minutes.

His initial shot was saved by Leith goalkeeper Kyle Rankin, but Page kept at the chance and fired home on his second attempt. A quarter of an hour gone and it was an exciting 1-1 game.

The game didn't really liven up again until the second half and still neither side seemed able to finish off their chances thanks to heroics by both goalkeepers. Hutchie's William Stewart was having the quieter game of the two goalkeepers and his opposite number Rankin in particular did well to parry away a vicious Craig Wojtowylz shot, then got up quickly enough to deny Page at the near post.

On 68 minutes, the Leith custodian was partly to blame for Hutchie going 2-1 up. A mix-up between a defender and himself saw the ball fall out his hands and land perfectly for Robbie Mason to tap home inside the six-yard box. An unfortunate error, but a deserved lead for Hutchie at this point in the game.

Three minutes later and it was time for Stewart to shine. A Leith free kick from about 28 yards out was struck beautifully by Harrison who forced Stewart to make a wonderful save and tip it over the bar.

The corner that followed saw Leith equalise and make it 2-2. The ball was swung in from the left and Liam Smith was on hand to finish it off.

After out playing Leith for most of the second half Hutchison Vale suddenly went behind on 75 minutes. Ben McKenzie played in Harrison with a perfectly weighted pass.

Harrison then composed himself well and slotted it past Stewart. It seemed like such a simple goal but made to look so by the perfect play Leith produced to create the strike that saw them go 3-2 up.

Hutchison Vale pushed on with the little time they had remaining and two minutes later Andrew Munro only just headed over from the cross. Leith though looked like they were holding strong and as the game went into injury time it looked like it was all over.

However, two minutes into time added on, Robbie Mason found himself with space inside the Leith penalty box. He received the pass inside and took one touch before rifling the shot home.

Leith were stunned, and capitulated a minute later by allowing Hutchie to win the game. Man of the match Lewis Page, of Hutchie, snatched onto a forward ball and struck it across goal from an angle.

Goalkeeper Rankin could not stop the finish from creeping into the far corner of the net and Hutchie had completed the turnaround in scoreline within two minutes.

Steve Forrest, the Hutchie coach, was in a state of shock after the game.

He said: "We knew what to expect today and Leith came at us. When it went 3-3 one of our coaches said 'We'll take extra-time and penalties' and I still felt we could go on and get another before the game is out. That was proved correct by the boys."

Man of the match Lewis Page said of his winning goal: "I just did what the coaches always taught us - stick it across the goalkeeper."

Leith Athletic: Kyle Rankin, Liam Smith, Matthew Watson, Blair Simpson, Ross Nisbet, Adam Hunter, Ben McKenzie, Bob Boyd, Scott Thomas Harrison, John MacMillan, Greg Turnbull, Matthew Lloyd, Conor Ingles, Greg Tulloch, John Robertson, Shaun Spence.

Hutchison Vale: William Stewart, Ryan Hall, Craig Stevenson, Connor Kane, Andrew Munro, Robbie Mason, Anton McKillop, Martyn Robinson, Lewis Page, Scott Coleman, Craig Wojtowylz, Garry Oliver, George Fox, Rory Emslie, Callum Connely, Craig Scott.