Hutchie make splash in cup

Hutchison VALE emerged 4-0 winners over Hunterfield in a one-sided final at Paties Road to claim the South East Region under-17 Victor Paris Bathrooms Cup.

Hutchie's first silverware of the season offers them a boost ahead of the showpiece South East Region Cup final in May.

Two goals from Lee Brown and one each from Haydn Crane and Jon McInally secured the victory for the Lothian Buses Division 1 league leaders. Hunterfield, who are currently leading Division 2, had beaten many top division sides to reach the final, including last year's cup winners Edinburgh City Colts in the quarters, but were dominated by a classy Hutchie side.

The winners showed their intent from the off, when Haydn Crane opened the scoring in the very first minute, heading a left-sided cross past the Hunterfield keeper with the first attack of the game.

In one of Hutchie's early first half attacks Mark Lawrie did well to keep the ball in when he ran down the left wing and hit a cross in to Brown, whose shot sailed high over the bar.

The first of Hunterfield's two real chances in the first half saw Ross Quinn one on one with the Hutchie goalkeeper after the ball was hit long up field, but his shot was high and over the goals. In their best chance of the game, Liam Neilson made a darting run down the right and into the Hutchie box before laying the ball across to an arriving Shaun Murray who failed to get enough contact on the ball to grab an opportune equaliser.

The leaders dominated the half but had few clear-cut chances until their pressure was finally rewarded on the stroke of half time. The Hunterfield defence struggled to clear a short Darryl McLaren chip into the box and it was headed into an empty net by Brown.

In the second half, the game was played predominantly in the Hunterfield half but again Hutchie had few clear cut chances.

Hunterfield came out fighting after the interval but Hutchie sealed the tie ten minutes after the break when Ryan Scott's long ball into the area was fired into the bottom corner by McInally. A Hutchie Vale triple substitution followed immediately after the goal and the pressure continued.

Later in the half, Hutchie's Liam Fellenger was impressive down the right side of the field, with his perseverance troubling the opposition's defence and forcing a corner. Soon after, Fellenger's cross-cum-shot from thirty yards grazed the top of the crossbar. Hutchie's Lewis Grant then hit a long high ball into the box, only for Dignon to head inches over. In the closing minutes, one of the Vale substitutes, Christopher McCartney, hit a low cross for Brown to tap in his second goal of the tie and round off the scoring.

Winning coach Gary Brown was proud of his players and is looking forward to two other cup challenges for the team. He said: "It was a great performance out there and it bodes very well for the South East final next month.

"You could see that this game meant a lot to these players. They're only 16 or 17 so they're at an important stage in their development. A lot of our players from last year were snapped up by other clubs so we've had pretty much a brand new squad of players this year, but I've been delighted by what they've shown."

Hunterfield coach Stephen Fraser said: "We knew it'd be a hard game. I'm obviously disappointed with the result but I'm very proud of the lads for making it this far, we've had a good day out."

Hutchison Vale will face Kerse Juveniles (Thistle), who reached the Scottish Youth FA Challenge Cup semi-finals, in the final of the SPORTSassist South East Region Cup on Saturday, May 28th at Dunbar's New Countess Park.

Hutchison Vale FC: Kerr McLernon, Ryan Scott, Darryl McLaren, Allan Hay, Lee Brown, Liam Fellenger, Mark Lawrie, Dean Crane, Jon McInally, Christopher Dignon, Haydn Crane; Callum Gilzean, Christopher McCartney, Lewis Grant, Taylor Aitchison.

Hunterfield Boys Club: Stephen Fraser, Duncan Wilson, Joshua Chisolm, Jed White, Ross Quinn, Stephen Murray, Shaun Murray, Liam Neilson, Daniel Lyell, Corey Galloway, Thomas Dickson; Shaun Currie, Kyle Hill, Blair Monteith, Jason Power, Jordan McLay.