Striker rises to challenge of City bosses

An 85th-minute wonder strike by Jorge Vinelli was enough to send Edinburgh City into the second round of the Scottish Cup.

City had been engaged in a stalemate battle with their opponents from the Highland League all afternoon, and although City always looked the likelier to score, a replay in Inverness seemed increasingly on the cards before the Spaniard came off the bench to smash home the winning goal.

"I am very happy." said Vinelli. "I scored one like that last week and I said to John and Gary (Edinburgh City joint managers] that I'd get another one on Saturday."

"We asked the players before the match who wanted to score and get their name to come up on the Sky Sports bulletin screen all around the world," added co-boss John Green. Jorge came up to us and said, you need a goal. I will get you a goal. And he did.

"Overall, I think we deserved the win. We controlled the game and the boys kept their shape throughout the match. We were patient and kept looking for an opening.

"But Clachnacuddin are a youthful side and a determined side, and for both teams there was a sense that one mistake would lose you the tie.

"The more the match went on the more it looked like it would take something like Jorge's goal to separate the sides, but it was a great goal and Jorge showed great technique to finish."

City made a bright start and spent most of the opening 30 minutes in the Clach half. But despite a couple of nice dummies, half a dozen corners and a penalty appeal for handball in the 18th minute, the home side had little in the way of clear cut chances to show for their efforts.

The visitors didn't come to life until the half-hour mark when Alan Pollock moved forward to hit his side's first shot on target, which was saved comfortably by City keeper Andrew Stobie.

Clachnacuddin's Staurt Leslie struck the woodwork ten minutes before the break with a cross-cum-shot from the right wing which dropped over Stobie before cannoning off the upright. City continued to have the upper hand for possession in the second half as they pressed for an opener. The home side made a big appeal for a penalty when Ross Guthrie went to ground inside the area in the 59th minute, but referee Paul Robertson waved the claim away.

A couple of minutes later Ross MacNamara went for a long range effort which was deflected just wide of the left hand upright, then with 15 minutes remaining a Dougie Gair effort failed to trouble the keeper.

Although City never looked in danger of losing the tie, it seemed increasingly unlikely that they would be able to make a breakthrough themselves.

But then in the 85th minute Vinelli dribbled the ball to within 20 yards of the target before unleashing a ferocious strike, sending the ball straight into the top right hand corner of the net.Vinelli was crushed by jubilant team-mates has he sprinted off the park to celebrate the goal. Not only did the former Spartans player pick up a yellow card for his celebrations, he also managed to sustain a head knock after being inadvertently hit by a team mate during the wild celebrations.

Clach tried to push for an equaliser in the final five minutes, but City closed out the win comfortably.

"We've done really well in the Scottish over the past couple of years," said Grant. "Last season, we were 20 minutes away from a game against Hibs in the fifth round and this has given us an extra bit of pressure to do well in the competition, so we're delighted to get through."

Edinburgh City: Stobie, Dingwall (Vanson 82) Scott, MacNamara, Bain, McFarland, Howat, Gair, Black (Cairnie 70) Guthrie, Moonie (Vinelli 65). Subs: Wilson, MacKintosh.

Clachnacuddin: Harrison, Williamson, Finnis, S MacDonald, Davidson, Dougall (Lawrie 36) MacLeod, Leslie, N MacDonald (Kennedy 65) Urquhart, Pollock. Subs: Smith, Shields, Aitchison.

Referee: Paul Robertson

Edinburgh City 1

Clachnacuddin 0