Star take control at Wardie

The hosts struck two goals in the opening 20 minutes to see off the challenge of Redhall in a keenly-contested fixture between the Capital's two best sides at amateur level.

In a match bereft of many goalscoring chances, where the battle was won and lost in midfield, Whitson capitalised on the visitors' slack start to exact a double blow early on.

Home talisman Chris Gordon struck an opportunist strike from inside the box after five minutes to leave Redhall reeling, before the league leaders went on to pepper their opponents' goal with a number of attempts.

The most notable of those was when Alistair Anderson swung a long ball from the halfway line deep into the penalty area and Neil Ferrier went agonisingly close with a header.

On 20 minutes, Whitson's sustained pressure somewhat inevitably brought the game's second goal. Ryan Morrison's corner from the right whizzed past a long line of hopeful heads before towering defender Graeme Markham connected at the far post to crash the ball past Redhall goalkeeper Andy Leask and into the net.

A Redhall outfit accustomed to playing open, confident football had been reduced to a shaken side now with a two-goal deficit to claw back.

But, despite retaining more possession after their early collapse and finding more chances to break forward, they were rarely able to truly test Whitson goalkeeper Scott Walker and his sturdy defence. Redhall's most potent threat came via the flamboyant full-back Scott Kinnaird and his mazy runs forward. Shortly after the half-hour, Kinnaird embarked on a break towards the Whitson penalty area on the left flank and from 20 yards cracked a powerful drive at goal, which was deflected narrowly wide of the right-hand post.

From the subsequent corner Craig Fraser knocked a close range effort just over the crossbar.

Unfortunately for the dispirited visitors, that minute of hustle and bustle in the Whitson 18-yard box constituted the sum total of the trouble they caused to an otherwise obsolete home rearguard. If a further goal was to follow in the game, the hosts appeared the most likely providers. Marc Robertson, son of Hearts legend John, sent a tantalising, low drilled ball across the box from the left that found Gordon, and Redhall No. 1 Andy Leask had to act smartly to deny the striker who saw his close range shot saved.

The rebound ball fell to John Hall, but he was off balance and shot over the crossbar.

After the match, Redhall boss Keith Kinnaird reflected on a lacklustre performance from his side, who now trail Whitson by a greater margin but have a game in hand. "It was a stop-start match and Whitson were a lot hungrier," said Kinnaird. "We were lacklustre and off the pace. They were two bad goals to lose through a combination of our bad marking and their good movement."

Meanwhile, George Thomson, manager of top-of-the- table Whitson, was delighted that his side were able to continue their rich vein of form. He said: "We've been really playing well recently and have been getting wins. Redhall are a good team, but that pushes us three more points above them."

Whitson Star: Scott Walker, Alistair Anderson, Ally Graham, Nicky Crawford, Graeme Markham, Craig Robertson, Marc Robertson, Darren Deery, Chris Gordon, Neil Ferrier, Ryan Morrison, John Hall, Sean Dunn.

Redhall Star: Andy Leask, Morgan Black, Scott Kinnaird, Craig Fraser, Sandy Munro, Lyle Smith, Keith Kinnaird, Stephen Finnie, Craig Cockburn, John McDonald, Kenneth McLean, Jonah Fransson, Gary Sutherland, Keith Lackie, James Reilly.