Thistle sting opponents with late winning goal

BLACKRIDGE THISTLE surrendered a lead twice before finally getting the better of their fierce rivals Syngenta Laurieston to lift the City Financial Independent South East Region under-17 Cup at Dunbar's New Countess Park.

Syngenta enjoyed the better of the first half and came from behind to tie the score at 1-1 by half-time but Blackridge masterminded a shift in power after the break, laying siege to their opponents' goal and emerging with a 3-2 victory.

Syngenta No.9 Stephen Sharp will reflect on a last-minute miss with utter dismay, after contriving to pull the ball wide of a gaping goal in the dying seconds and passing up a glorious chance to equalise.

It was Sharp's strike partner Jamie Arbuckle, though, who was guilty of wasting some fine opportunities early on in the game, firstly dinking a clever chip over Blackridge goalkeeper Darren Fleming only to see the ball drop wide of the right-hand post, then sending a close-range header from a corner past the opposite side of the goal frame.

At the first sniff of an opener at the other end on 24 minutes, Blackridge striker Ross Morison displayed a clinical side to break the deadlock.

Syngenta defender Jason Ward was stretching to head a ball into his team's penalty area and succeeded only in sending the ball across his own goal, allowing Morison to thrust to the edge of the six-yard box and power a header into the net.

Thistle's lead only lasted five minutes, driving Syngenta on to produce some sharp shooting of their own. The sheer pace of Blair Moodie was the architect of their equaliser, as the No.11 sprinted clear on the left after latching on to a through-ball, forcing his way into the penalty area with his marker left in wake, and dispatching a clean, crisp finish from a relatively tight angle into the bottom right-hand corner. On 33 minutes, Blackridge nearly reassumed the advantage after Greg Marshall's intelligent, low cross from the left found Alistair Gauld but he dragged his shot from the edge of the box narrowly past Ross Campbell's right-hand post.

Syngenta attacker Arbuckle continued to endure a torrid time in front of goal and was denied by the feet of Thistle goalie Fleming at a one-on-one after Ryan Donnelly's incisive pass forward.

Syngenta were very much on the front foot in the first half and would have happily extended the opening period so as to convert their superiority into a tangible advantage. With the sides locked at 1-1 at the interval, though, a transformed Blackridge stormed into the second half to apply sustained pressure on Campbell's goal.

Ryan Meechan spurned a gilt-edged chance from close range with just Campbell to beat soon after the restart but the same striker showed his predatory instinct moments later as Blackridge regained the lead.

Gauld was clean through with just Campbell to beat and would have been perfectly entitled to shoot himself but instead squared for the lurking Meechan to side-foot easily into an empty net. Despite Blackridge remaining in the ascendancy for most of the remainder of the game, it took just a single opportunity at the other end to expose any fragility in the Thistle defence.

Another threaded pass beyond the Blackridge backline found Arbuckle – in an onside position as an "inactive" team mate ten yards away had strayed offside – and the striker finally got his goal, advancing into the penalty area before rolling the ball under the goalkeeper and into the net.

With ten minutes to go, any hope Syngenta had of stealing a victory were gone in a flash, as Gauld raced to the near post to meet a left-wing corner and smash the ball past Campbell. If the goal frame had endured something of a shudder upon the impact of Gauld's strike, it was positively rattling five minutes later as Blackridge's Ryan McGraw launched a 15-yard thunderbolt square on to the crossbar, a strike that certainly made an impression but which really should have found the net. Lastly, in a rare chance at the other end, Syngenta were presented with a final throw of the dice to level the scores, but Sharp squandered it to hand Thistle the cup.

Blackridge secretary Charlie Spence felt his side deserved the win. He said: "It was a cracking, end-to-end game. Syngenta had the better of the first half, but in the second we got the ball down and played well."

Syngenta Laurieston: Ross Campbell, Stephen Lee, Ryan Donnelly, Jamie Colston, Jason Ward, Blair McGregor, Barry McQuade, Anthony Reilly, Stephen Sharp, Andy Gordon, Blair Moodie, Jamie Arbuckle, Craig Scott, Jason Sturgeon, Fraser Currie.

Blackridge Thistle: Darren Fleming, David Dewar, Keir Stewart, Alistair Henderson, Ricki Lamie, Daniel Kay, Lee Graham, Fraser Spence, Ross Morison, Jonathan Agini, Alistair Gauld, Ryan Meechan, Steven Guest, Greg Marshall, Ryan McGraw.